Epistar's joint venture established with China-based display maker Leyard Optoelectronic in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi started production in October 2020 and has won orders for 67-inch 2K fine-pitch RGB mini LED displays with a pitch of 0.7mm and 81-inch ones with that of 0.9mm, with these displays to be mosaicked into large-size displays each with display area of 227 square meters, according to industry sources.

The joint venture has fully utilized initial production capacity, and Epistar will expand production capacity for red-light LED chips in Taiwan and blue- and green-light LEDs in China to increase supply for the joint venture, with the expansion to be completed in second-quarter 2021, Epistar said.

The joint venture aims to reach monthly packaging capacity of 1.6 billion LEDs, including 20,000 backlight units (BLUs), in 2022. If the joint venture can generate revenues of CNY1 billion (US$153 million) in 2021, it stands a chance of swinging into profits. If production capacity can be fully utilized, the joint venture is likely to reach annual revenues of CNY5 billion in five years.

Epistar owns 50% of the joint venture through two of its subsidiaries, and Leyard holds the remaining 50%.

EnnoStar, a holding company established jointly by Epistar and vertically-integrated LED maker Lextar Electronics, will be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on January 6, 2021. EnnoStar is intended to combine Epistar's capability in LED production with Lextar's in LED packaging and module assembly to compete for orders for miniLED BLUs.

As Samsung Electronics sets a goal of shipping two million miniLED-backlit LCD TVs and Apple will launch miniLED-backlit iPad Pro and MacBook in 2021, Epistar and Lextar will increase production for miniLED BLUs in first-quarter 2021. EnnoStar is expected to have revenues from miniLED take up 20-30% of 2021 consolidated revenues.

By DIGITIMES