Epistar raked in profits in 1Q14, benefitting from strong LED backlight and lighting order demands. The Taiwanese epitaxy manufacturer performed better than first quarter last year, with growth of 44.33 percent YoY. 

Taiwan LED manufacturers were very active at this year’s Light+Building 2014 show that took place in Frankfurt, Germany last week. The main theme of Taiwanese manufacturers at the show was LED technology. Some major technology highlights included flip chip LED, Alternating Current (AC) Driver-on-Board (DoB) Chip-on-Board (COB) modules.

Market listed companies have released their March revenue reports this week with the LED industry coming out on top, according to an article by Economic Daily News. LED manufacturers had unusually good performance in January and February, a traditionally slack season for the industry. The growth trend continued into the peak season where it picked up pace in March. Order visibility already extended to 3Q14. The second half of this year is anticipated to be smooth for the industry. 

The pace in which flip-chips are integrated into lighting and backlighting products in 2014 has drawn the attention from the industry. LED package manufacturer Epistar showcased their new G9 capsules which use Pad Extension Chip (PEC) and HV LED technology during the Taiwan International Lighting Show (TILS) 2014 last week. 

LED lighting penetration rate has been rapidly increasing recently. After penetration rate surpasses 10 percent, the industry will officially enter the S curve fast growth period, pushing LED lighting into a golden three year development period. 

Epistar’s February 2014 revenue outperformed initial estimations, according to Morgan Stanley. Growing lighting demands drove up revenue and operating margin. Client orders in 2Q14 exceeded the company’s production capacity, which will be beneficial in improving its product portfolio and increasing product’s Average Selling Price (ASP). 

The LED industry took a hit in Feb. 2014 from fewer work days, due to Chinese Lunar New Year. Many manufacturers saw a dip in revenue from Jan. 2014. In comparison to the previous year manufacturers are seeing higher revenues due to increased demands in LED lighting. LED chip manufacturers Epistar and Epileds showed atypical growth in revenue this Feb. 2014 despite the traditional slack season, demonstrating  outstanding operational performance. 

The LED industry is entering into the traditionally slack second quarter. LED manufacturers have increased backlight orders in March as large international TV brand manufacturers launch new products this quarter. In addition to rising demands for LED lighting, LED manufacturer production utilization rates have also seen an increase in March. LED chip manufacturer Epistar and LED package manufacturer Everlight saw a rebound in production utilization this month. Operational performance is also anticipated to increase.

Mature LED applications are driving the industry into a new lighting era, and has opened up a new round of patent strategies. Taiwanese LED manufacturers have invested in technology R&D and patent strategies to acquire a niche in upcoming patent competition.

The LED outdoor lighting replacement trend is growing with over 600 cities in the U.S. already planning to switch old streetlights to LEDs, according to Commercial Times. New York plans to switch roughly 25,000 streetlights to LEDs by 2017, making it the largest undertaking in the North American market. Europe, China, and Japan are also initiating replacement projects. LEDinside estimates that compound annual growth rate will surpass 20 percent in 2014-2017, which will encourage lowered stock prices.

Taiwanese manufacturers could soon see an increase in flip-chip shipments as Samsung begins to purchase LED flip-chips from Taiwanese manufacturers.

December total revenue for Taiwanese market listed LED manufacturers dipped 0.1% to NT $10.6 billion (US $350.7 million). Revenue for Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers reached NT $3.98 billion (+0.8% MoM) and NT %6.67 billion for Taiwanese package manufacturers, a slight decline of 0.9% MoM.

With the LED lighting era on its way, Epistar has seized LED lighting market shares through virtual vertical integration with downstream manufacturers, according to Economic Daily News. The company has currently invested over 9 percent in Edison shares totaling NT $300 million (US $9.9 million), and is considering increasing shares in the future.

LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s Chairman B.J. Lee during the company’s year-end dinner on the 18th announced that the company is currently the largest LED chip manufacturer globally and hopes to become a first-class company in the future, according to Economic Daily News. The company’s LED lighting shipments have doubled this year and Epitar anticipate 2014 to be a better year than 2013 for the company.

LED lighting application is gradually maturing. In order to continue lowering costs for LED lighting products, there is a growing trend of manufacturers adopting High Voltage (HV) LEDs to simplify the power supply design. A large chunk of commercial and street lighting already uses HV LED components, according to Epistar. The company views is very optimistic of future  HV LEDs development in the lighting market. In the company’s product portfolio, mid voltage and high voltage LED chips makes up 10 percent of the company’s lighting products.

The rejuvenation of the LED market is unsurprisingly a hot topic in the investment market recently. Foreign investor’s interest in LED companies is gradually growing. In a recent report, Credit Suisse gave their outlook for Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar. The financial firm believes that is in a good position to ride on the general lighting demand growth and outgrow the market in the TV backlighting space due to their advantages in technologies and scale. However, the company will still be affected by seasonal factors with the upcoming Lunar New Year. The company’s 1Q14 revenues are expected to have a 10 percent QoQ decline.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar delivered a stellar performance during the traditional LED low season. The company announced its Dec. 2013 revenue reached NT$ 2.04 billion (US$ 70 million) marking a historical high for the last 10 quarters since 3Q11. Although, December revenues dropped 1.36 percent compared to the previous month, revenues soared 61.46 percent from Dec. 2013. In addition, consolidated revenue for 4Q13 increased 6.09 percent QoQ to NT$ 6.10 billion, or an annual increase of 37.28 percent. 

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar benefited from an increase in backlight orders with a limited affect on their slack season. Order visibility for February orders after Lunar New Year is still not completely clear. However, the situation in January 2014 had an obvious turn for the better with utilization rates maintaining a standard of 80-90 percent.

Chinese LED chip manufacturers are conservative towards expansion, according to the Commercial Times. Forepi and Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) have temporarily stopped introducing new MOCVD units for 2014 and are aiming to increase efficiency instead. However, Taiwanese manufacturer Epistar has continued to increase MOCVD units to meet lighting client demands, due to insufficient production during peak season.

The market has been focused on whether Taiwan LED chipmaker Epistar’s private placement will draw large international investors. Epistar issued US $250 million (NT $7.5 billion) euro convertible bonds (ECB) to Philips in August 2013. However, the company has denied the transaction.

LED manufacturers cost control pressure for has not eased  as TV retail prices continue to drop. Low priced direct- type LED TVs are projected to become mainstream in 2014. LED manufacturers also plan continual release of low-cost solutions. Taiwanese manufacturers are optimistic about flip chip products ability to expand beam angle and conduct higher voltage electric currents, with Taiwanese manufacturers such as Epistar and Forepi leading the way in introducing flip chips into large sized backlight applications.

Recent automotive orders have bolstered revenue for LED manufacturer Epistar, reported Economic Daily News on the 16th. Mid power LEDs are anticipated to drive up company revenue to 40 percent in 2014.

LED manufacturers have consecutively released their November financial reports.Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar revenue has been driven by increased shipment demands for  AlInGaP and backlight products and LED chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) also showed good revenue performance in November benefiting from flip chip products.

The LED market for 2014 will see continued growth for the general lighting market and supply shortage of LED chips due to increasing demands from the LED lighting market, according to a recent report from UBS. In the report, the financial service company provides their outlook for Everlight and Epistar 2014 operation performance.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar saw earnings turn to losses in 3Q13, due to loss on valuation of financial liability. Although, the company’s gross profit rebound rate was much lower than expected in 2013, higher gross profits from Embedded LED chip (ELC) and AlInGap products will help gross profits return to 17.8 percent levels, CLSA forecasted.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar has released their 3Q13 financial results, feeling the effects of  LED for TV backlight applications inventory adjustments.

With the continual low price trend of  in the LED market, manufacturers are beginning to consider options for lowering productions costs. LED package free products have become the focal point of the industry in 2013 with many manufacturers actively breaking into R&D and production.

LayTec is proud to announce that Epistar Corp. has qualified LayTec’s in-situ metrology Pyro 400 for its GaN LED production. The LED manufacturer based in Taiwan will not use high accuracy GaN surface temperature sensing with Pyro 400.

When asked about his views for the LED industry in the next few years, B.J. Lee Epistar chairman said during an interview at LEDforum 2013 that he expects to see steady revenue growth for the company and the continual restructure of the LED industry.

The LED industry after entering into the lighting era still continues to face pressure to lower prices. LED manufacturers have thus begun competitively pushing their way into package free chip development. Manufacturers like Philips Lumileds, Toshiba, TSMS Solid State Lighting, Epistar, and Formosa Epitaxy have already begun promoting package free chip products.