30 September 2011

Lextar goes public on Taiwan stock exchange 

Lextar Electronics Corp (LEC) of Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan went public on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) yesterday, claiming to be the only company in the Taiwanese LED industry with vertical upstream-to-downstream integration.

Lextar was established in May 2008 as a subsidiary of display panel maker AU Optronics (AUO), and specializes in manufacturing high-brightness LED epiwafers, chips and packages, as well as energy-saving and smart lighting products. After acquiring domestic packaging firm LightHouse Technology Co Ltd in March 2010, Lextar has experienced rapid growth. Lextar has manufacturing plants in Hsinchu Science Park, Hukou Industrial Park and Chunan Science Park in Taiwan, and is establishing a new plant in Suzhou, China. Total staffing is now more than 2200.

Revenues in 2010 were US$255m (NT$8bn). Chairman Dr David Su says that, with stable output for LCD backlight applications, Lextar has built up its production and technology capacities in a very short time and secured its niche in the lighting market (with products for applications including professional lighting sources, consumer lighting sources and various lighting products). Currently, Lextar’s lighting business constitutes nearly 40% of total revenue, and the firm has now entered the supply chains of the top three international lighting brands, it adds. Based on its vertical integration, Lextar says that it has been able to maximize market opportunities and create added value for international brands via their total solutions.

Since it was founded, Lextar has positioned itself in full-spectrum lighting products as well as photometric, electrical, mechanical and thermal technologies. Its full series LED light tubes (with lengths of 1–5 feet and a variety of options for brightness, socket and color temperature) are being shipped to customers at a volume of 200,000–300,000 units per month. It has also started mass delivery of GX16 tubes which are compliant with Japan’s latest JEL801 certification. Meanwhile, LED bulbs and panel lights are already being received by international brand owners. This year, Lextar has also started receiving large orders for LED lighting projects and has started shipments. COB (chip-on-board) and LED light modules with various powers have also been launched. For the COB product line-up, the low-wattage products (4–7W, 8–15W and 15–21W) meet the requirements for light bulbs while the high-wattage products (30–50W) can be used for downlights and floodlights.

Lextar reckons that, with its Lighting Solutions and Value Provider (LSVP) strategy (introduced at the beginning of this year) and its technology and production capacity base in epitaxy and chips, it has entered the integrated services arena for lighting markets while simultaneously penetrating ODM/OEM brand owners in the European Union, USA and Japan. The firm says that it is determined not only to capture lighting channel markets around the world but also to adopt strategic partners in order to provide customers with quality products and services as well as improving added value by means of multiple channels and multiple brands.

Tags: Lextar LEDs

Visit: www.lextar.com