Light guide plate maker Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) plans to build additional production lines at its plant in Tongluo, central Taiwan to cope with rising demand from the scissor-switch keyboard sector, according to company chairman Lee Mang-shiang.
The company plans to expand the production lines at its Tongluo plant to 10 from seven currently, Lee said.
Demand for its light guide plates has grown after Apple launched its new 16-inch MacBook Pro with a scissor switch keyboard, according to industry sources, who also indicated that GLT is the sole light guide plate supplier for Apple's scissor keyboards.
Increased shipments of light guide plates for scissor keyboards helped push GLT's revenues to a 14-month high of NT$604 million (US$19.8 million) in October. The monthly figures also represented an increase of 26.1% on month and 5.67% on year.
GLT is expected to see its shipment momentum continue into the first half of 2020 as Apple is also likely to adopt scissor-switch boards for its new version of 13.3-inch MacBook Pro slated for release in the first half of the coming year, according to industry sources.
GLT also posted net profit of NT$148 million for the third quarter of 2019, up 196% on year, with gross margin hitting a 10-quarter high of 20.02%. For the first three quarters of 2019, net profit reached NT$222 million or NT$1.7 per share.
GLT chairman Lee Mang-shiang
Photo: Rebecca Kuo, Digitimes, November 2019
Article translated by Steve Shen
