FOREPI to set up China subsidiary, targeting LED lighting market

Taiwan-based LED epiwafer and chip maker Formosa Epitaxy (FOREPI) plans to invest US$150m to establish a subsidiary in Rushan, Shandong province, east China, according to a report in Digitimes.

Sited in the Rushan Taiwan Industrial Complex (a 7.5-square kilometer area for Taiwan-invested projects), the new firm will focus on R&D and manufacturing of LED epitaxial wafers, chips and related semiconductor lighting products, says FOREPI’s chairman Chien Fen-ren. Production will initially focus on blue/green gallium nitride (GaN) LEDs.

FOREPI targets the LED streetlamp market in China. The firm is currently working with China packaging houses to ship to the domestic market. Revenues from LED chips for general lighting applications accounted for 10-15% of FOREPI's total revenues in 2008.