LED packager Unity Opto Technology saw January revenues increase sequentially by 4.1%, while fellow packagers Lite-On Technology and Bright LED Electronics saw their January revenues decrease by 2% and 13% respectively.
Unity Opto saw its January 2011 revenues increase 4.1% sequentially and 53% on year to NT$530 million US$18.33 million
Sequential growth of 4.1% was mainly driven by returning orders for backlighting, and increasing orders for new backlighting models and general lighting helped boost the 53% on year growth, Unity Opto noted. Shipments in the first quarter of 2011 are expected to remain at the peak season levels of the third quarter of 2010 thanks to increasing market share of LED backlighting and demand for general lighting.
TV backlighting products have already reached economies of scale and are attracting orders from first-tier vendors and system makers, the company noted, adding that Unity Opto is cooperating with several small- to medium-size panel makers to focus on the tablet PC market, and expects tablet PC demand to continue expand backlighting demand.
In order to meet the growth in client demand, Unity Opto plans to expand its capacity significantly in 2011 and aims to increase its capacity by 150-120 million units in the first half of the year and another 100 million units in the second half. In response to the demand growth in China, Unity Opto's Beijing plant is scheduled to start production at the end of 2011. Overall capex for 2011 is expected to reach NT$1 billion, while overall capacity is expected to double compared to 2010.
Lite-On has posted January revenues of NT$9.81 billion, down 2% sequentially but up 4% on year.
All of Lite-On's major business units showed steady growth, and the camera module, power supply, and photoelectronics LED business units posted especially strong growth of 70%, 20% and 10% on year, respectively.
Bright LED revenues decreased 13% sequentially but increased 3.62% on year to NT$359 million.
Bright LED's revenues in February will remain at weak season levels due to fewer working days, however, the company is optimistic about orders for LED street lamps for the whole year and estimated total orders of 100,000 LED street lamps.
Bright LED backlighting products are currently under validation by China-based TV vendors and are expected to start shipments in February. TV backlighting revenues are expected to increase by 50% in 2011.
More obvious improvements in revenues are expected in March to the level of NT$430 million as work days return to normal and shipments of new orders start, and overall performance in the first quarter of 2011 is expected to exceed the level of NT$1.24 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Figures are not consolidated
Source: TSE, compiled by Digitimes, February 2011
