Everlight plans to invest NT $30 billion (US $944.31 million) on production expansion in the next five years in Taiwan to compete in the international market, according to a news report from UDN.
The company’s optimistic outlook on the TV backlight, lighting products and indoor display market demands led to its expansion plans. The company will spend NT $10 billion during 2015 to 2017, and the first phase of production line will enter production by 2016 at the earliest, said Everlight’s CEO Robert Yeh.
LED industry underwent massive restructures over the past few years. The market is slowly recovering as some companies are being acquired or exiting the industry. Hence, Everlight sped up expansion plans of building a new factory on land measuring 56,000 m2 in Taiwan. The company aims to catch up with international major manufacturers, Yeh said.
Although, Everlight expanded production capacity by 25% this year, the new facility has been idle, due to the market downturn, the CEO said. He is uncertain about the LED market in the coming year, but remains optimistic about Everlight’s operations mainly due to the company’s revenue growth from TV backlight, LED lighting and indoor displays.
Backlight market will reach saturation in 2015, but since 4K or 8K high resolution panels have become popular, LED demand is expected to rise, analyzed Yeh. For instance, LEDs needed to provide the brightness for a 32 inch 4K panel increased around 50%. This will significantly increase the LED chip demand and overall market value.
As for LED lighting, the market penetration is expected to rise, and the growth of indoor displays seems promising. Currently Everlight’s indoor advertising board has a market share of 80%, and is expected to keep on track next year.