Micro/Mini LED, automotive LED and other markets continue to grow, and Everlight/Fucai accelerates their layout

Micro LED, Mini LED, automotive LED, agricultural lighting, ultraviolet light, infrared light and other markets continue to grow. TrendForce, a research institute, is optimistic that the overall LED market output value this year will reach US$13.003 billion, a moderate growth compared with the estimated value of US$13 billion in 2024. Among them, LED packaging manufacturer Everlight is optimistic about the steady increase in combined gross profit margin, and one-stop solution provider Fucai is fully committed to innovative application fields.

TrendForce pointed out that although the overall global economic situation affects the development of the LED market, it will benefit from the continued development of innovative technologies and applications such as automotive and Yuanverse, as well as stable demand in developing countries, which will form a strong support for the supply chain; in addition, the competitive landscape of on-board chips and micro-light emitting diode packaging will also accelerate the business model of modular products.

TrendForce pointed out that based on 2024 data, the world's top 10 manufacturers account for 93% of the market, and the top 3 manufacturers account for 55%. Except for mainland China and Taiwan, the export proportion of other peers is declining year by year; in addition to virtual applications and higher-standard product upgrades, they will help The LED market is moving forward. The trend of software and hardware integration driven by artificial intelligence is also conducive to increasing the added value of the industrial chain and establishing LED's development in a diversified, intelligent and more advanced direction.

Everlight’s Q2 revenue increased by a double-digit percentage quarterly

Everlight is optimistic that the main growth momentum this year will come from its invisible light and automotive products. It is estimated that the proportion of invisible light revenue will be approximately the same as last year’s 39%, while the proportion of automotive products will grow to 14%, an annual increase of 2 percentage points. Although there are still investment plans for new product R&D and equipment optimization this year, the combined gross profit margin is still expected to maintain high performance by eliminating weak products while retaining strong ones and improving the mix.

Everlight's current product line gross profit margins are ranked from high to low as consumer electronics, invisible light, automotive, lighting, and backlighting. Among them, lighting and backlighting are lower than the consolidated gross profit margin level, and consumer electronics products, which account for 40% of revenue in the first quarter of this year, have entered the off-season. However, consolidated revenue is expected to only decrease by a single-digit percentage quarterly, and performance in the second quarter will return to double-digit quarterly growth.

Fucai's merger drives transformation and accelerates innovation layout

Fucai announced in February that it would merge its Epistar Optoelectronics and Lextar Electronics into a single subsidiary, focusing on high value-added "3+1" areas such as automotive, advanced display, intelligent sensing and AI optical communications. In the field, we will improve R&D efficiency, strengthen the integration of upstream epitaxial and die technologies, and downstream packaging and modules, provide more competitive innovative solutions, and accelerate the expansion of the automotive market.

Fucai’s management plans to host the Taiwan Optoelectronics Exhibition from April 16th to 18th to provide the market with complete automotive light source solutions, covering interior and exterior displays, cockpit atmosphere and intelligent sensing applications. In addition, the group has simultaneously invested in a number of new optical communication product development, design and introduction projects, and at the same time pushed its sensing component business into the AI robot supply chain. It is optimistic that the subsequent open source plan will promote the transformation of revenue and profit structure.