By Li Panpan

Chinese leading LED manufacturer Nationstar(国星光电) achieved net profits of $31.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 100.28%. It also completed trial production orders of SiC power discrete chips.

Nationstar released a performance report on March 23, saying its revenue in 2021 reached RMB3.806 billion ($598.11 million), a year-on-year increase of 16.64%. 

Based in Foshan, southern Guangdong Province, Nationstar was founded in 1969 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. It started LED production in 1976, with subsidiaries in Germany and the U.S. established in 2015.

Nationstar said it focuses on emerging markets in lighting, display, backlighting, and other applications. At the same time, it strives hard on the third generation of semiconductors. 

In terms of Mini LED, its product layout has fully covered P1.5-P0.4. Among them, its IMD M04 product took the lead in adopting the 20-in-1 Mini LED technology solution with the highest packaging density in the world. 

In Mini LED backlight, the company uses the three major packaging technology routes of Mini POB, Mini COB, and Mini COG, with applications in TV, high-end displays, PAD, notebook, vehicle, and other display fields. Those products achieved mass shipments and reached strategic partnerships with world-renowned manufacturers.

It developed a high-consistency pixel-based quantum dot color conversion color film preparation technology, which effectively solved problems like the low yield of Micro LED red light chips, low light efficiency, and great difficulty in mass transfer, improving quality and reducing cost. It is of great significance to promote high-resolution Micro LED full-color display.

In the area of the third-generation semiconductor, it launched SiC power discrete chips and modules and GaN chips, with experimental lines of the last two series being put into production.

The company has completed trial production orders of SiC power discrete chips. Meanwhile, its subsidiary, Nationalstar Semiconductor, has technical reserves related to silicon-based GaN chips and actively cooperates with universities and research institutes to develop GaN power chips.

In the high-end market segments and emerging application fields, Nationalstar is working on healthy/smart lighting, plant lighting, UV/IRLED, and others. It took the lead in launching all-inorganic UV LED products. Its UVC LED products increased the WPE of small and medium power products to 5.6% using advanced packaging technology and optical design. It achieved mass production in smart health sensing chips, which can be widely used in smartwatches, smart bracelets, and VR headsets. It also works on wearable chips with partners from home and abroad.