LED maker Edison’s automotive product order visibility is expected to expand throughout 2025, building confidence in automotive order growth momentum. The company expects its LED lighting and automotive businesses to experience double-digit growth in 2025, particularly with finished product applications expected to achieve a 20% compound annual growth rate.

Edison said it is currently focused on the lighting and automotive markets. In the LED lighting segment, in addition to Taiwan’s ESG lighting applications, the company aims to target the European green energy lighting market, expanding to different customer groups and striving to securing major international customers through environmentally friendly and energy-saving concepts.

In terms of automotive products, the current focus is on fog lights, taillights, grilles and interior reading lights. Primarily targeting the North American market, the company collaborates with international manufacturers to develop new products and expects significant growth in automotive shipments by 2025.

Regarding the utilization of production capacities for various products, automobile production lines encompass components, modules and finished products. Currently, the utilization rate of automotive finished products is around 80-90%, while that of modules is around 70-75%. However, the utilization rate for automotive components is lower, at around 60%, due to a decrease in shipments of LED lighting components. The average utilization rate of SMT modules on finished product assembly lines is 70-80%.

In terms of revenue contribution, automotive LED products account for 48%, general LED products 47%, and sensor components 5%. Automotive LED components are mainly used by Chinese automakers, including Nio, Li Auto and Xiaomi. Automotive modules and finished products mainly cater to the North American market, supplying top-tier automotive lighting customers.

The share of automotive products is expected to increase further in 2025, with a continued effort to increase the proportion of finished products, thus promoting personalized collaboration models with customers.

Acquisition of new Zhongli factory in response to international demands

To meet international manufacturers’ demands for the length and scale of production lines, Edison declared that existing facilities could no longer meet these needs. Therefore, it has acquired a new factory in Zhongli, which is expected to be completed in June 2025, and mass production is expected to start in the fourth quarter.

Once space is available at the existing Zhonghe factory, it will accommodate the automotive production lines of its subsidiary Edison-Litek, in anticipation of future capacity expansion. Therefore, the capital expenditure for 2025 is estimated at NT$100 million (about US$3.07 million), focusing not only on the renovation of the Zhongli factory, but also on the improvement of rates use and efficiency of equipment.

Looking ahead, Edison noted that order visibility for LED lighting is about two months, while visibility for automotive products could last up to a year. Even though the industry is expected to enter off-season in the fourth quarter, stable demand for automotive products could mitigate seasonal slowdowns, potentially extending growth trends into the first quarter of 2025.

Benefiting from steady growth in orders from European and American customers, Edison expects shipments of finished products in the lighting and automotive sectors to increase by at least 20% in 2025, while shipments of modules lighting and automobiles are expected to grow by between 10 and 20%. . Currently, the gross margin performance for automotive finished products and lighting modules is favorable, and with the improvement in utilization rates, there is optimism that gross margins will improve, maintaining prospects positive for operations in 2025.