Unity Opto Receives Hefty Additional Orders From Europe, America

Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd. has received a hefty load of additional orders for LED light bulbs from European and American customers, prompting the firm to boost its output from two million to five million bulbs a month.

Thanks to the new orders, LED lighting is projected to grow to 45% of the company's total output next year and boost its total revenue by an estimated 20%.

Company chairman Alpha Wu said that the additional orders have forced him to take part in production inspection himself and to speed up the expansion of output at the firm's factory in Wugu District of New Taipei City. The factory's output will surge from two million bulbs in the second quarter to five million bulbs a month by the end of the year.

Wu foresees a burgeoning in demand for LED lighting in 2015. He believes that LED lighting applications will grow more diversified next year, providing a large number of LED makers with more profit opportunities.

The chairman's optimism derives from his confidence that despite the importance of the pricing factor, mainland Chinese LED makers will be unable to compete easily with Taiwanese manufacturers in the high-end market.

Next year, he said, his company's revenue growth will be driven mostly by LED lighting, LED backlights for high-end smartphones, and LED auto lamps. Backlight for TVs will account for a reduced portion of total revenue.

In the first three quarters, Unity Opto's earnings shot up 1.42 fold from the same period last year. The company estimates that its revenues for November stayed at October's level of NT$877 million (US$29.2 million at NT$30:US$1).

Wu predicted that his company's revenue growth will remain strong next year and that lighting products will contribute most of the momentum. He also forecast that lighting products will account for over 35% of total revenue in the final quarter of 2014, up from around 30% in the third quarter. (KL)