Taiwanese
LED manufacturer BRTLED recently announced it has received a four-to-five-year-order from an US commercial airline for SMD
LED lighting module, which is expected to be a major growth driver for the company.
BRTLED's SMD LED products. (BRTLED/ LEDinside)
Due to stringent certification approval process for aerospace products, it took BRTLED two years to finalize the deal. The US airline will use dozens of SMD LED modules in each aircraft cabin.
BRTLED has delivered small-scale shipments over the last quarter and the quantities are expected to expand in 2017. The company estimates that revenue from SMD LED module sales will contribute 5% to the overall revenue of the year.
Regarding IR LED products, which contribute 4% to BRTLED’s overall revenue, BRTLED is one of the few companies that provide modules in their product lines while others only offer components.
In addition, orders for IR LED modules are mostly long-term and are stable sources of BRTLED’s revenue. In 2017, demand in devices like printers, robotic vacuum cleaners and sensors for factory controls is stronger than previous years.
Moreover, the drop in InGaN (blue) LED chip prices has slowed, which is a huge relief for BRTLED because its subsidiary KoBrite, a provider of blue LED chip, has suffered net losses for some time.
In recent years, BRTLED has shifted its focus to profitability and has refined product portfolio.
For the current year, the company is expected to win new and more long-term orders. Thus, market is now forecasting a double-digit revenue growth for the company in 2017. BRTLED’s revenue in 2016 grew 8.2% YoY to NTD 2.16 billion