Taiwanese LED chip maker Epistar in 2017 went through a financial turnaround and reported a share dividend of NTD 0.8. In wake of lukewarm market demand, the company’s 2Q18 results showed declinces. Its plan to mass produce Mini LED products is scheduled in the second half of 2018.

On May 7, 2018, Epistar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against V-TAC USA Corp. (“V-TAC”) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on May 7, 2018. The complaint asserts that V-TAC’s LED filament bulbs infringe seven Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt further sale of the infringing products.

Epistar yesterday announced it has agreed with Kaistar Lighting on the licensing of LED filament patents. The LED filament bulb products manufactured by Kaistar and its subsidiaries (including Bridgelux, SINOTRON Lighting, and Interlight Optotech) are licensed under Epistar’s filament patents.

EPISTAR announced it has reached agreement with KAISTAR lighting (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.(Kaistar). The LED filament bulb products of Kaistar and its subsidiaries are licensed under Epistar’s filament patents. 

As time is moving forward to the second quarter of 2018, more and more rumblings and updates about Micro/Mini LED emerged and have been circulating in the industry. In February, LEDinside collected and revealed information of Micro LED development from nearly 50 companies around the globe. Here, we would like to share some progress updates released after that from 10 companies.

The ninth annual Taiwan International Lighting Show (TILS 2018) opened with much fanfare in Hall 1 of Taipei World Trade Center on 25 April. This year’s show has gathered 114 exhibitors and featured 420 display booths showcasing technologies under the categories of LED general lighting and smart lighting.

Major Chinese LED package supplier MLS teams up with Taiwanese auto lamp manufacturers to develop automotive lighting. Targets of its early stage development are aftermarkets of rear lamp and turn signal in Taiwan.

In addition to our witness of the raid at Light and Building 2018, LEDinside also learnt a low-key move from Epistar, who according to sources had reached out to dozens of exhibitors on-site regarding Epistar’s intellectual property rights.

The oversupply in the LED chip market continues in 2018. The market demand is estimated to recuperate in the second quarter; however, it will still need new technologies such as Mini LED to ease the oversupply, according to Biing-Jye Lee, Chairman of Epistar

Taiwan LED manufacturers recently announce their first-quarter revenues. The revenues of Epistar and Lextar both declined more than 10% YoY. In 2H18, these two companies will launch new Mini LED products, which might help increase their revenues.

Light + Building 2018, the largest trade fair for lighting and building services technology in Europe, officially begins on March 18. For the next six days, 18-23 March, exhibitors at the show will showcase their state-of-the-art products and technologies, whether they are for lighting, communication, building automation, or automotive applications.

Taiwan-based LED chip manufacturer Epistar reported a decrease of 8.59% MoM and a growth of 11.52% YoY in its revenue for January 2018. The slow season and the price decline of LED are factored in for the decrease.

LEDinside listed out companies worldwide that have tapped into the development of Micro LED and what they have achieved so far. This up-to-date table covers the majority of the activities happening within the global Micro LED developing force. 

Finance of Taiwanese LED giant Epistar saw a noticeable recuperation last year. The market this year anticipates Mini LED, one of Epistar’s new lineup, to generate a revenue for the company in 2H18.

Major smartphone vendors like Samsung and Apple have been making improvements regarding unlocking devices beyond password-based methods, resulting in the rapid development of biometrics recognition in smartphones. In addition to smartphones, biometrics authentication methods will also be used in tablets and wearable devices.

VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) technology has been at the center stage in the tech world of late, in the wake of the debut of the new iPhone X, which contains a 3D sensing module with VCSELs as its core components. Their importance even made Apple fork over quite an amount of money to secure some of the VCSEL shipment from Finisar, a laser chip producer.

Several Taiwanese LED companies have seen positive results after three quarters of business transformation. As they have been shifting more capacity to non-blue LED applications, more mid- and small-sized LED firms starts to see turnarounds. Looking ahead to 2018, Taiwanese companies will keep differentiating themselves from Chinese competitors and expanding product lines in niche markets, such as IR LED, sensors, and Mini LED.

Taiwan-based LED chip manufacturer Epistar announced its business plan for 2018 will be around five cores—backlighting, high-end LED lighting, infrared application, automotive lighting, and innovative digital display. Ming-Chun Chou, General Manager of Epistar, stated the company will officially produce Mini LED in 2Q18 at the earliest.

Epistar General Manager Chou Ming-Chun revealed at the company’s investor conference on December 5 that Mini LED is likely to be mainstream in the backlight market.

Rumors have been spreading like crazy since May that Samsung would acquire Taiwanese Micro LED startup PlayNitride. Sources from the industry recently leaked that the two companies are at the final stage of their talk.

Famed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in his latest report that shipping estimates of the iPhone X have improved to 1-2 weeks in large part because of better-than-expected enhancements in the supply chain, rather than weak demand, reported MacRumors. The worldwide demand for the iPhone X remains strong.

Taiwanese LED chipmaker Epistar reported a decline in revenue in October due to the slow season and estimated 4Q17 sales less than that of 3Q17. However, Epistar’s outlook for 2018 is positive with the momentum from collaboration with display makers on Mini LED-lit displays.

Mini LED has a high chance to help Taiwanese LED manufacturers reclaim the leading position in the high-end backlight market in 2018. It rekindles Taiwanese firms’ hope against the ‘OLED attack’ from Korea, expected Bingjie Li, Chairman of Epistar.

EVERLIGHT made an announcement to sell a part of Epistar stocks after a board meeting.

Chinese LED packager Honglitronic has been devoted to the development of products for automotive lighting. It lately collaborated with Taiwan-based LED chip giant Epistar to form a strategic alliance, aiming to harness resources from both sides to develop automotive lighting products. 

For more than 20 years since Epistar’s founding in 1996, Epistar devoted considerable resources in developing its LED technology , and built a sizable patent portfolio around its innovations. To date, Epistar has over 4000 patents and patent applications.

Epistar Corporation filed a patent infringement lawsuit against All Star Lighting Supplies, Inc., d/b/a Luxrite in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on October 13, 2017. The complaint asserts that Luxrite’s LED filament bulbs infringe eight Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt further sale of the infringing products.

Taiwan-based LED manufacturer Epistar's revenue in September rose to NTD 2.476 billion, setting a new record high since April 2015. Its revenue in the third quarter of 2017 also set a new record for the past 12 quarters, reaching NTD 7.057 billion.

The next generation display technology Micro LED draws lots of attention, but Micro LED will take time to reach the mass production (MP) phase. Before that happens, mini LED with lower technical barrier will enter its MP phase first. Sources said, panel makers and LED die manufacturers already started their collaboration. Initially, mini LED will be used for two major categories: signage and TV panel backlight source. The cooperative effort will launch ultra-fine-pitch signage and super energy-saving, ultra-slim direct lit mini LED backlight TV panels.

Epistar's major stockholder Xiamen San’an Optoelectronics announced on September 27 that it has sold all of its 3.05% share of Epistar. San’an lately sold 33.306 million shares of Epistar in a block trade, gaining NTD 1.244 billion (USD 41.01 million) after deducting the transaction fee.