The LED sector in Taiwan generally had weaker-than-expected sales in April despite players' optimism that orders would be picking up in the second quarter.
LED packagers Unity Opto Technology and Harvatek saw their April sales drop sequentially.
Unity said shipments of applications for LED backlighting dipped in April amid clients' inventory adjustments. The company's April revenues declined 4.6% sequentially to NT$292 million (US$9.58 million), which nevertheless represents a 24% on-year increase.
Unity said shipments to the LED backlighting segment will return to normal in May.
Harvatek's revenues for April dropped 6% sequentially to NT$282 million, with the company predicting limited revenue growth for the first half of 2008. With an order visibility of one to two months, Harvatek said the high season will not come until the third quarter.
While sales performance for the second quarter may not be weak, margins for the quarter will be able to stay at similar levels to those for the first quarter, the company said.
But LED chipmaker Formosa Epitaxy managed to see a 2.51% sequential growth in April revenues to NT$162 million, a company sales record. But the company pointed out that while the LED market saw better-than-expected demand in the first quarter, growth in the second quarter has been slow.
