According to Korean media reports, LG InnoTek sold 114 LED patents registered in South Korea to Suzhou Lelong Semiconductor, and the transaction was completed on July 2. Among 114 LED patents, about 100 patents are pending and not yet registered.
Earlier news showed that LG InnoTek has signed a transfer agreement with a Chinese company, intending to transfer production equipment and about 10,000 LED patents to it. On May 20, the identity of the buyer was revealed, namely Suzhou Lelong Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
According to the data, LG InnoTek submitted an application document for changing the patent owner in March of this year. Prior to this transaction, LG InnoTek sold 1968 LED patents registered in the United States to Lelong Semiconductor, and the latter took over the former 1977 US LED patents in total.
Suzhou Lelong Semiconductor was just established on March 2, 2021, with a registered capital of 80 million yuan, and the legal representative is Guilin Shuang. Lelong Semiconductor is a manufacturer of semiconductors, electronic components and equipment. It may build a factory in the future, but it has not produced any products yet.
People familiar with the matter said that this 80 million yuan fund is enough to pay part of the advance payment for 1977 US LED patents. Calculated according to the value of a single US patent, the total amount of all patents is expected to be 80-100 billion won (approximately RMB 450-570 million).
As everyone knows in the industry, LG InnoTek revealed that it would withdraw from the LED business as early as 2019, and officially announced this plan in October 2020, but the impact of the epidemic has been delayed, and now the dust has settled. Among them, LED-related patents have always been favored by LED manufacturers, especially UV LED patents. In the future, Lelong Semiconductor will provide potential customers with patent-protected products.
Speeding up the global layout of automotive lighting business
Although LG InnoTek has sold LED production equipment and LED-related patents, the company is actively expanding its automotive lighting business in the LED field.
It is understood that in 2018, LG Electronics invested in the acquisition of Austrian automotive lighting giant ZKW. Since then, LG InnoTek's automotive lighting business has begun to develop, focusing on the development of Nexlide LED modules. In 2020, LG InnoTek adjusted the automotive lighting business unit, and accelerated the expansion of the global automotive lighting business under the new name of the automotive lighting solutions business.
Image source: LG InnoTek
In April this year, LG InnoTek released the Nexlide-E automotive lighting module. Compared with existing products, the performance of the product is further improved. For example, the brightness and uniformity are 63% higher, which can meet the brightness standards of taillights, turn signals and brake lights. It can be integrated in car lights to improve space utilization.
The release of Nexlide-E has further accelerated LG InnoTek's entry into the global automotive lighting market. At present, LG InnoTek is actively advancing cooperation with automakers, striving to increase the number of orders from global automakers such as Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, and it is expected that finished cars equipped with Nexlide-E will be put into mass production in the second half of this year.
At present, the automotive lighting market is also in the "window period" of vigorous development, and related manufacturers around the world are actively competing for the commanding heights of development. According to TrendForce's analysis, under the influence of the 2020 epidemic, global car manufacturers are more actively increasing the penetration rate of LED headlights, in order to achieve differentiated competition and increase market share when market demand plummets. And automotive lighting is one of the directions for car manufacturers, car lamp manufacturers and LED manufacturers to work together.
In 2021, with the increase in vaccination rates, the gradual relief of the global epidemic, and the bottoming out of demand, niche applications such as automotive LEDs are expected to be one of the main driving forces of the global LED market.
TrendForce's research shows that the penetration rate of automotive LEDs has continued to rise since 2020, and the sales of new energy vehicles will increase significantly this year. Coupled with the acceleration of the introduction of LED lighting solutions for new models of traditional fuel vehicles, these will become the automotive LED market. The source of development. In addition, the development of advanced technologies such as smart headlights, through-type taillights, HDR automotive displays, and ambient lights will effectively drive the demand for automotive LEDs.
According to TrendForce's 2020-2021 global automotive LED product trends and regional market analysis, it is estimated that the output value of automotive LEDs in 2021 is expected to reach 3.14 billion US dollars, an annual increase of 18.1%. (Text: LEDinside Janice)
