While revenue from LED sales in Taiwan and China are increasing, LED lighting will largely be focused in niche markets as price competition increases, according to Liao Zongren, chairman of Bright LED Electronics.
LED chipmakers such as Epistar saw May revenues reach NT$1.658 billion (US$55.48 million), up nearly 10% compared to April. Epistar said revenue was more than expected and that order shipment visibility is until July.
Epileds also saw increased revenue in May and will see an overall 45-50% increase in revenue during the second quarter, said industry sources.
However, Liao Zongren, chairman of Bright said that he has a conservative view of growth for Taiwan LED manufacturers due to increasing price competition as well as competition from growing China LED makers. LED lighting will largely be used in niche markets such as in the automobile industry in the future and LED lighting overall will be slowly be a technology of the past, added Liao.
Liao said that Bright's market share for supplying cell phone backlighting dropped to 30% from 90% in 2011 and that most orders are for infrared module and scanner-use products.
Bright's order visibility is approximately one month and the company reported May revenues at NT$280 million, a 1.8% on-month increase.
Article translated by Alex Wolfgram
