Unable to pay back creditors, a bankrupt decorative luminaire manufacturer from Henglan Town in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China chose to end his life by jumping off a building. Videos of the manufacturer leaping to his death have been widely circulated on the Internet. Rumors surfaced that the company declared insolvency after receiving a bad check for several hundred thousand Chinese Yuan. The information has not been confirmed, though.

Chinese LED manufacturer Nationstar announced a new round of financing on Sept. 29, 2014 to fund the production expansion for small pitch LED display and outdoor LED display components, according to China Securities Network. After the financing, the company will become a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned Guangdong Guangye Assets Management.

NVC Lighting announced the company froze second largest shareholder former CEO Wu Changjiang’s shares in the company, according to a Securities Times report. Wu has a total of 130 million company shares, which is worth about RMB 1.06 billion based on the company stock value of RMB 8.15 as of Sept. 29, 2014.

“LED industry inventory level adjustments hit a peak in July,” a cnYes.com report quoted Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee. Market insiders’ project LED lighting PSS manufacturers Crystalwise Technology, Rigidtech and Aceplux Optotech. The market projects revenues in September and October will be unable to keep up high growth, and the market will be stagnant in third quarter.

Entering its 10th anniversary this year, Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Prolight Opto Technology (Prolight) will become registered on the Taiwan bourse on Sept. 24, 2014. At a press conference, the company explained it expects to apply for listing during first half of 2015, and projects becoming listed on the bourse during third quarter that year.

Market insiders in Taiwan recognize the LED TV backlight market entered seasonal adjustments in third quarter, but the adjustments are expected to impact LED manufacturers revenue in September, according to a China Times report. Taiwan’s LED chip manufacturers revenue were impacted by inventory adjustments from July to August 2014, while LED package manufacturers have kept up growth.

Refond Opto announced Monday night, shareholder Konka Precision Mould Plastic (Konka) sold out more than 3.02 percent of its stake in the Chinese LED manufacturer, according to a Sinai report.

LED package manufacturer Harvatek revenues is expected to drop during third quarter in 2014, due to adjustments in lighting OEM orders, according to a Money DJ report. However, the company is expected to see revenue growth next season. While further long term observations are required to determine the impact from Cree’s patent lawsuit.

Escalating market competition in China’s LED industry has spurred vendors to acquire orders by offering customers generous loan terms, but when buyers delay payment, it adversely affects manufacturers’ liquidity. If delayed accounts receivable become bad debts or uncollectible accounts then the consequences can be dire.

Elec-Tech International (ETI) financial performance and management condition has come under the spotlight, as the company’s conflict between NVC Lighting intensifies.

U.S. LED manufacturer Cree’s stocks dropped to US $41.1 recently, after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stocks from buy to neutral, according to a report by China Post. As Cree’s lighting revenue increases, Taiwanese manufacturers believe Cree’s business focus is turning towards downstream.

Refond Optoelectronics recently announced its largest shareholder and company CEO Gong Weibin has sold out 5 million stocks, or about 2.29 percent of shares on Sept. 11, 2014, according to a Securities Times report.

Roshow Technology is under China’s Securities Regulatory Commission’s (CSRC) watchful eye for violating financial regulations again, according to a National Business Daily report. In April, the company’s former Board Secretary Chai Shen was arrested for suspected insider trading.

The market speculated whether GE will sell its lighting division after the company recently sold the home appliance division for US $3.3 billion to Swedish company Electrolux, according to a Lighting report.

San’an Opto board has approved an equity share transfer agreement signed with Cher Detank.

On Sept. 5, 2014, Chinese LED manufacturer Honglitronic announced it signed an “investment partnership agreement” with Nanchang City government in Jiangxi Province, China, and is currently constructing a new LED manufacturing base in the city. The investment was approved by the company’s board of trustees in a recent meeting, according to a Securities Times report.

Lextar Electronics set another new revenue record last month, after three consecutive months of growth drove up revenue by 14.7 percent YoY to NT $1.42 billion (US $50 million), according to a UDN report. On a monthly basis, the company’s growth in August was only up 0.3 percent compared to July 2014.

Epistar and FOREPI stockholders have approved the proposed merger between the two companies today, according to a report by Cynes.com. FOREPI stocks will be swapped at a rate of 3.448 per Epistar share. 

In the last article, LEDinside summarized upstream Chinese LED manufacturers performance during first half of 2014, now it is time to inspect midstream and downstream sectors.

With many LED manufacturers releasing their latest revenue performance in August 2014, LEDinside will now review and rate their performance as “excellent”, “pass” or “fail”.

Taiwanese LED stocks plunged on Aug. 21, 2014 over rumors of Chinese government’s intention to raise LED tariffs. To clarify market rumors, LED manufacturers Lite-On, Everlight, Epistar and Unity Opto all stated they did not receive any notices regarding increased tariffs from Chinese authorities, and an uptick in tariffs would have limited impact since they all had LED factories in China. These Taiwanese LED manufacturers also emphasized delivering good revenue performances for August 2014.

Revolution Lighting Technologies (“Revolution Lighting”) announced that it has entered into a three year loan and security agreement with Bank of America. The agreement allows Revolution Lighting to borrow up to US $25 million on a revolving basis.

Lextar Electronics Corp (Lextar) today reported consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2014 of NT$ 3.8 billion (US $130 million), up 17.7 percent from previous quarter. Consolidated gross margin was 14.5 percent, with a 2 percent QoQ growth. Net profit for 2Q 2014 was NT$ 163 million; a basic EPS for 2Q was NT$ 0.32. 

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US $436 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, ended June 29, 2014. This represents a 16 percent increase compared to revenue of US $375 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, and an 8 percent increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was US $30 million, or US $0.24 per diluted share, an increase of 6 percent year-over-year compared to GAAP net income of US $28 million, or US $0.23 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

Rubicon Technology, a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor, and optical industries, reported financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Universal Display Corporation, enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with itsUniversalPHOLED® technology and materials, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Noribachi is excited to announce key achievements for the first half of 2014, which include new distribution programs, product advancements and substantial revenue growth.

Veeco Instruments announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014. Veeco reports its results on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) basis, and also provides results excluding certain items. Please refer to the attached table for details of the reconciliation between GAAP operating results and Non-GAAP operating results.

Major LED EPI-wafer and chip manufacturer Epistar’s revenue was up 30 percent to NT $ 8.13 billion (US $270 million) during second quarter of 2014. Growing backlight and lighting demands have benefited the company, but financial results for first half of 2014 might still be negative, due to huge losses incurred during first quarter, according to a Money DJ report. Third quarter 2014 financial results will be cushioned by the arrival of the peak season, and is estimated to assist the company in maintaining high profits throughout the season. 

Taiwanese LED lighting manufacturer Lite-On Technology has joined the ranks of two other Taiwanese LED manufacturers’ in selling its 3,900 shares in Epistar, according to a UDN report.