LED manufacturer Everlight plans to expand in the lighting market as the company’s revenue for November was down due to LED backlight slack season.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Lextar’s recently announced revenue last month was slightly down, due to the slack season in 4Q14.

After three months of inventory digestion, major epi-wafer manufacturer Epistar is yet expected to prolong its low utilization rate as LED market enters slack season in November and December. The company’s blue LED utilization rate is around 50% in November, according to Epistar's vice general manager Rider Chang.

The LED industry has experienced a recent surge with no signs of stopping. Large global manufacturers such as Philips and Osram, as well as LED manufacturers from China, Korea, and Taiwan are all scrambling to take advantage of the booming market, and have increased investments in  LED lighting sector as they uphold positive outlooks on the sector performance.

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. 

Taiwanese LED lead frame manufacturer I-Chuin’s revenue dropped in February this year, due to fewer work days during the Chinese holiday season and labor shortages after Chinese Lunar New Year. Consolidated revenue for February reached NT $ 419 million (US $13.8 million), MoM drop of 19.79 percent and YoY decline of 2.48 percent. 

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.

LED package manufacturer Everlight announced on December 10th that the company revenue increased slightly during the traditionally slack season in 4Q, with November revenue reaching NT $2.26 billion (US $76 million).

Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Edison Opto consolidated revenue for November reached NT $213 million (US $7.2 million), a monthly decrease of 2.23 percent but yearly growth of 32.2 percent. With the year drawing to a close, clients are observing the market before ordering. December revenue is forecasted to remain level.

Taiwan LED package manufacturer Unity Opto Technology (Uni) November consolidated revenue reached NT $530 million (US $18 million), a 27.93 percent slide from last November. However, revenue for November remained consistent with last month showing unusually good performance for a typically slack season. 

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Lextar’s November revenue reached NT $1.17 (US $39 million), growth of 10.1 percent from October and 49.5 percent from November last year. The company’s accumulated revenue from Jan.-Nov. was NT $12.64 billion.