Taiwan-based maker of backlight units (BLUs) for use in small- to medium-size panels, Shianyih Electronics, expects to increase its shipments of LED BLUs from 1.3 billion units in 2006 to 1.51 billion units in 2008, and the company has already received orders of LED BLUs for use in 2.5- and 3.5-inch backlights for car mirror applications this year.
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hianyih Electronics started producing small volumes of LED BLUs for use in the automobile industry for customers in US and Japan in 2007, and it expects to increase its share of BLU revenues coming from the automobile industry to increase from 5% in 2007 to 20% in 2008.
Shianyih Electronics indicated that LED BLUs for small- to medium-sized panels require a lot of customization based on customer needs and that orders tend to be small. Therefore, there are more opportunities for smaller players, as larger players focus more on market segments where larger orders can be secured. In addition, gross margins are higher for small- to medium-sized LED BLUs, compared with that for large-size applications.
Shianyih Electronics currently partners with TPV Technology, Giantplus Technology, Emerging Display Technologies (EDT), Truly Semiconductors and Powertip Technology. With the increased popularity of LED-based backlighting in notebook applications, the company is also looking to enter into volume production of LED BLUs for use in medium- to large-sized notebooks in 2009.
Shianyih Electronics's Dongguan BLUs factory is expected to boost its BLU capacity from 10 million units to 14 million units by the fourth quarter of 2008. The company aims to reduce the product share of LED BLUs for use in handset from 60-70% in 2007 to 50% in 2008, and it will increase the product share of LED BLUs coming from automotive, digital camera, and GPS applications.
Shianyih Electronics and Japan-based makers have spent one year partnering in the development of a 0.1mm light guide plate for use in handset keypads and the company expects to receive the orders from Japanese customers in the third quarter of 2008.
Shianyih Electronics is also scheduled to list on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on April 8.
