Lite-On Tech to expand production capacities for car-use, optoelectronic devices in 2022

EMS provider Lite-On Technology will expand production capacities for automotive electronics and optoelectronic devices in Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in 2022, according to company president Anson Chiu.

Lite-On will soon begin to expand production capacity for automotive electronic components/devices at its factory in southern Taiwan and for invisible-light LED devices at its factory in Thailand, Chiu said during an April 19 investors conference. Utilization of LED device production capacity at the Thailand factory has increased to about 90%, Chiu noted.

Lite-On is also expanding its factory in Vietnam and will set up assembly lines in the US to quickly serve clients there, Chiu indicated.

As semiconductor components remained in short supply and their cost increased 10-15% in first-quarter 2022, Lite-On's gross margin for the quarter dropped to 17.14%, Chiu said. Lite-On has plans to hike quotes to reflect rising costs in the second quarter, Chiu noted, adding lead time for semiconductor components has prolonged to 56 weeks.

Lite-On originally expected ssemiconductor components shortage to ease in third-quarter 2022, but because demand for such components used in power supplies of cloud computing servers and automotive electronic devices has been much larger than originally expected, the shortage will not ease until early 2023, Chiu indicated.

COVID lockdowns in China's Shanghai, Kunshan and Suzhou have considerably impacted operation of Lite-On's factories there as well as its suppliers and clients, Chiu said, adding Lite-On will adjust production capacities among its factories to minimize the impact.

Of the first-quarter 20222 consolidated revenues of NT$41.230 billion (US$1.45 billion), NT$19.879 billion (48.21%) came from IT product lines and consumer electronics; NT$8.626 billion (20.92%) from optoelectronics product lines including automotive CCMs; NT$12.725 billion (30.86%) from devices used in cloud computing, data centers, servers, networking/communication equipment, and others, Lite-On indicated.

Lite-On will continue R&D investment in electric vehicle (EV)-use charging solutions and power supplies used in cloud computing and 5G small cells, Chiu said.

For second-quarter 2022, main sources of business growth are high-voltage, high-efficiency and high-density power supplies used in cloud computing, optoelectronic devices used in green energy, industrial control, AR/VR and wearable devices as well as electronic devices used in EV power charging, ADAS (advanced driver assist system) and automotive lighting. Lite-On expects second-quarter consolidated revenues and operating profit to significantly increase sequentially.

Source: Company, compiled by DIGITIMES, April 2022