The LED industry has been engulfed in a wave of M&A as it moves into the lighting era. The past few years have been an intense restructuring period for Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers, said Chein Fen-ren, Chairman of FOREPI. The M&A wave has recently hit Chinese LED manufacturers and Chein estimates that within two to three years, Chinese manufacturers will be whittled down from the current 20-30 to only five. 

Rising lighting demands have little effect on M&A within the industry. Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers have been actively restructuring over the past few years, including the Epistar-Huga Optech merger and Everlight-Tekcore merger, as well as Chi Mei Lighting and Unilux’s close down. Chein believes that over the next few years, Epistar, FOREPI, Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI), Epileds, and Tekcore will have M&A opportunities, leaving behind only 2-3 companies.