Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Lextar Electronics Corp. entered the public market on September 29 via an initial public offering (IPO) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). The LED- and solid-state-lighting (SSL)-focused company is trading under the code TAIEX 3968. The initial share pricing was TWD (Taiwan New Dollar) 17.70 ($ 0.58 US), and Lextar has traded near that price this week.
Lextar is pursuing a vertical-integration strategy manufacturing LED chips, packaged LEDs, LED-based light bars, and SSL lamps and luminaires. Sales revenues reached TWD8 billion ($255 million) in 2010 driven primarily through sales of light bars into LCD-backlight applications.
With the backlight market in a bit of a slump, the company is increasingly focused on lighting. Lextar said that its lighting business now constitutes almost 40% of its total revenues including components sold into lighting. The company says that it has "entered the supply chain of the top three international lighting brands."
In addition to supplying LEDs, the company is shipping chip-on-board (COB), and other types of LED modules to SSL luminaire makers. Lextar said COB modules in the 4W-21W range target retrofit lamps, and those in the 30W-50W range target downlights and floodlights.
Lextar is also supplying a variety of LED-based linear-fluorescent replacement lamps including GX16 models for the Japanese market. And the company is pursuing business as an ODM/OEM, providing contract-manufacturing services to a global marketplace
In an article leading up to the IPO Primasia News reported Lextar's first-quarter-2011 sales breakdown at 6.5%, 27.1%, 59.8%, and 5% for LEDs, packaged LEDs, light bars, and lighting end products respectively. Primasia also reported that Lextar became profitable for the first time in the second quarter of 2011 and had projected an IPO price as high as TWD30.00. The stock was trading in the range of TWD17.45-17.80 on October 4.
