LED driver IC Qian Jingjia big manufacturers rush to the market

Wang Xuehong's VIA Group (2388) invested in LED lighting driver IC company Guangpeng through IC distributor Quanta (8068), and its entry into the LED lighting industry has attracted the attention of the industry.

In fact, like Wang Xuehong, other technology bosses who are interested in the prospects of LED lighting driver ICs include Song Gongyuan, chairman of Lite-On Technology (2301), Lu Chaoqun, chairman of Etron (5351), and Lee Kun-yao, chairman of AU Optronics (2409).

2011 is regarded as the first year of LED lighting. According to market research firm LEDinside, the overall market outlook is that with the ban on incandescent bulbs in various countries and the rise of environmental awareness, it is estimated that the global LED lighting market penetration rate will exceed 9% in 2011 and exceed 20% in 2014.

Driven by policies, the penetration rate of LED bulbs in the second half of this year in the Japanese market has exceeded 30%, higher than the originally expected 25%. In 2012, the LED lighting market will take off rapidly due to the policies of various countries to phase out incandescent lamps, which has also attracted attention to LED lighting driver ICs. Companies that have entered the development of technology groups have gradually emerged.

Wang Xuehong entered the market with the time-honored IC design company VIA Group. Her IC channel subsidiary Quanta is expected to exchange shares with LED lighting driver IC design company Guangpeng in December this year. Quanta will officially take over Guangpeng with a 70% stake. After Quanta takes over, it is expected to promote Guangpeng's LED lighting driver IC to the Chinese lighting market. Lu Chaoqun, who is also an IC design boss, owns Etron and Kaiyu (5468), which were originally niche IC design companies. In recent years, they have each diversified their products. Kaiyu's transformation into LED lighting driver IC has achieved initial results and is expected to ship LED lighting driver ICs in the fourth quarter of this year.

Lite-On Technology and AUO, which have already started to develop downstream LED lighting, have also entered into investment in LED driver IC design companies. Song Gongyuan invested in LED lighting driver IC company Onchip (4947) through Lite-On Group's semiconductor company Dunnan. He emphasized that the team came from Texas Instruments (TI) of the United States and completed patent applications at the beginning of its establishment. The protection umbrella is complete. In the future, it will be connected with Lite-On Technology's LED packaging and Dunnan's lighting markets to enter the LED lighting market with the group's strength.

AUO Group invested in LED driver IC company Amag (later renamed Amag) through its subsidiary Vilight (3080). In addition to developing its own LED lighting brand Vilight, its subsidiary Lextar currently has LED lighting accounting for 40% of its revenue, which is also one of Amag's overseas development outlets.

The potential business opportunities of LED lighting replacing traditional lighting have led many IC design companies to officially enter an era of contention among a hundred schools of thought.