Taiwan's diode makers including HY Electronic, Eris Technology, Panjit International and Actron Technology have all posted impressive revenue increases for first-quarter 2021, driven by robust demand for PV, display and automotive applications.

HY's first-quarter revenues shot up 71.5% on year to NT$526 million (US$18.78 million) due mainly to strong shipments for rectifier diodes for discrete power devices and solar bypass diodes.

The company is set to enforce capacity expansion in mid-2021 at the earliest to better digest orders from clients and meet their shipment schedules. It expects shipments of three major product lines - bridge rectifiers (contributing 41% of revenues), solar bypass diodes (36%), and rectifier diodes (20%) to remain growth drivers for the company in 2021.

Eris saw its first-quarter revenues grow 17% on year to NT$448 million thanks to robust diode demand for high-end servers, networking equipment, notebooks and games consoles. The company has tapped into the supply chain of China's leading panel maker BOE Technology with display-use diodes, which will further drive up its sales in 2021.

The company will continue to adopt in 2021 5-inch GPP (glass passivation pellet) manufacturing process newly developed by its subsidiary Yea-Shin Technology, which is expected to help the company sharply reduce diode wafer procurement costs, boost gross margins and profitability, and hit new business records in the next two years.

Among Taiwan diode makers, Panjit has taken the lead in raising its quotes, particularly for low-margin offerings, to reflect foundry and backend costs and increasingly strong demand for diodes and MOSFETs for IT applications.