Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電), the nation’s second-largest LED chip packager by sales, reported 22.9 percent month-on-month growth in revenue to US$18.49 million for last month due to increased shipments of both LED lighting products and backlight modules.
That was an 8.94 percent annual increase, marking the first growth for Unity Opto after seven straight months of contraction since June last year, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange data.
Since the LED industry’s slow season ended, Unity Opto has received new orders for LED bulbs from its existing US and European customers, spokesman Jacky Weng (翁聰智) said in an e-mailed statement.
The company also shipped out additional batches of LED backlight modules as clients placed new orders in preparation for post-holiday demand for large LCD TVs in the US and Europe, Weng said.
Other sales drivers include the company’s increased shipments of LED backlight modules used in mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, he added.
“Despite fewer working days due to the Lunar New Year holidays, sales momentum is expected to be sustained this month as the company’s orders for both LED lighting products and backlight modules grew significantly in recent weeks,” Weng said.
With increased orders for LED lighting products in hand, Unity Opto is expected to post year-on-year growth in sales this quarter after registering a 79.42 percent drop last quarter, Weng said.
Meanwhile, Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達電子), an LED manufacturing arm of AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), on Thursday reported that its sales grew for 14 consecutive months to NT$1.22 billion (US$40.15 million) last month.
Last month’s sales represents a 11.01 percent growth from NT$1.09 billion in December last year and a 28.06 percent increase from NT$951.8 million during the same period a year ago.
“Despite the traditional slow season, Lextar saw a pickup in orders for LED backlight products used in laptops and displays last month,” Lextar public relations official Fiona Chiu (邱培玲) said in an e-mailed statement.
Chiu said Lextar was supplying LED backlight modules designed for seven Chinese smartphone vendors’ products last year, which was one of the firm’s growth drivers.
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