LED Packager Unity Opto's Revenue Hits New High in September

LED packager, Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd., announced consolidated revenue of NT$918 million (US$30.6 million) for September, increasing 0.92% from a month earlier and 73.4% year on year to hit a new high for a third month.

The September result helped swell the company's Q3 revenue to NT$2.6 billion (US$87.6 million), up 28.4% from the previous quarter and 51.6% from a year earlier.

Based on the impressive growth of its Q3 revenue and lowering NT-dollar-to-greenback rate in September, which made Taiwan's exports less expensive, industry executives see brighter outlook for corporate earnings for September.

The company ascribed the Q3 revenue growth mostly to the brisk shipments of its new LED light bulbs and backlights for high-performance smartphones.

The company's new LED lights started to be made in July and the production ramped up in the following two months. Production of the new bulbs in Q3 far exceeded the total throughout H1 of this year at this company.

Lighting products are expected to account for up to 35% of the company's revenue in Q4, up from the current 30%.

Orders for the company's high-performance LEDs for smartphones, which feature wide color gamut (WCG), also increased considerably in Q3. According to its executives, high-performance smartphone backlights will stress larger size, slimness, high picture definition, and wide color gamut this and next year.

WCG, they say, enhances chromatic vividness on smartphone screen. Many big-name makers began integrating WCG technology into  smartphones and tablet PCs in the first half, with more big-name suppliers expected to follow suit in the second half.

Like Unity Opto, Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd., world's No.1 LED packager by volume, could see revenue set another high this September thanks to brisk shipments of smartphone backlights to China and for LED lighting. The company's revenue already hit a new high in July and August.

Everlight Chairman Robert Yeh says that this year's peak season for its lighting business will last throughout this year.

Everlight listed a loss of NT$760 million (US$25.3 million) in its affiliate Taiwan Polysilicon Corp., manufacturer of photovoltaic materials, in Q2 this year. The company sold its holding in the LED chipmaker Epistar Corp. to offset such loss. Industry executives remain optimistic towards the company's Q3 earnings.

Compared with domestic peers in the industry, Lextar Electronics Corp. had a weaker September with earnings of NT$1.3 billion (US$44.6 million), up 17.6% year on year but down 5.6% from a month earlier. (KL)