Epistar Garners Apple's Order for LED Backlights

Taipei, Jan. 21, 2011 (CENS)--With its cooperation with Japan's Toyoda Gosei paying off, Epistar Corp., a large-sized LED maker in Taiwan, has landed Apple Inc.'s order for LED backlights for use in iPad, which will help to fuel Epistar's sales revenue starting this March, according to industry sources.

With strict supplier criteria, Apple now procures LEDs mainly from Japan's Nichia and Toyoda Gosei as the backlight source of its iPad and iPhone.

However, as the lingering appreciation of the Japanese yen against the greenback has forced the U.S. firm to seek other suppliers for economical LED backlights, Epistar, which has built cooperative ties with Toyoda Gosei, stands the chance to share part of Apple's contract orders switched from Toyoda Gosei. As a result, Epistar has effectively joined Apple's supply chains.

After reaching a patent cross-licensing agreement, Epistar and Toyoda Gosei decided to upgrade their cooperation by establishing a joint venture, TE OPTO Corp., in November, 2010, in Taiwan, with the former grasping a 40% stake. The joint venture's sales revenue is estimated at JPY5 billion for 2011.

Noteworthy is that Epistar has also zeroed in on the business opportunities brought by the rise of tablets PCs this year, when global sales of the devices are estimated to hit 50 million units. The firm has reportedly garnered several orders from tablet vendors and manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Epistar has also landed contract orders for LED backlights from a couple of international large-sized notebook PC makers, including Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Corp., Compal Electronics Corp.

Benefiting from increasing LED applications in TV, notebook PCs and lightings, Epistar confirmed that its production lines have been fully booked by contract orders till this June. This secures the firm strong growth momentum in sales and shipments in the first half of 2011.