Seoul Semiconductor (CEO Lee Jeong-hoon), a specialized semiconductor company, achieved its best first-quarter performance since its founding, driven by strong IT business and improved profitability.

Seoul Semiconductor announced its first-quarter 2021 business results on the 4th. According to the results, sales increased 27.6% year-over-year to KRW 310.4 billion, and operating profit increased 243.4% year-over-year to KRW 20.5 billion. Net income increased by 303.5% year-on-year to KRW 24.5 billion.

In particular, net profit for the period reached 24.5 billion won, which is 85% of the previous year's annual net profit of 29 billion won, in just one quarter, raising expectations for dividend income this year.

In particular, this performance was recorded as the highest first-quarter sales and net income since the company's founding.

The strong first-quarter performance was driven by a robust IT business, benefiting from the accelerated contactless economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as consistent sales and profitability improvements across all business divisions, including automotive and lighting.

Additionally, the stabilization of the relocation of production bases for general products to Vietnam, which began in 2017, also contributed to the improvement in profitability.

Second-quarter sales were projected to grow 19% to 29% year-on-year to between KRW 320 billion and KRW 340 billion, expressing high expectations for this year's performance.

In April, market research firm Omdia released data showing that Seoul Semiconductor surpassed US LED manufacturer Lumileds in 2020 to achieve third place in global market share rankings for the first time. Seoul Semiconductor plans to continue its double-digit growth this year, solidifying its position as a leading global company.

A Seoul Semiconductor representative said, “This year, we are expecting even higher sales in the second half of the year as we begin mass production of Mini LED, which is receiving a lot of attention as a next-generation display technology. We are also making investments to seize new growth opportunities starting in the first quarter.”

Seoul Semiconductor's Mini LED utilizes WICOP technology, a semiconductor revolution that allows LED chips to be mounted on a substrate without packaging. This is an essential core technology for Mini LED.

Meanwhile, Seoul Semiconductor is the world's second-largest global LED company (excluding affiliates). With over 14,000 patented technologies, and based on a differentiated product portfolio, we research, develop, and mass-produce LED products applicable across all areas, including indoor and outdoor lighting, automotive, IT (cell phones, computers, etc.), and UV, and supply them to global customers. The world's first products developed and mass-produced have become standards in the LED industry, and innovative products such as the package-less LED "Wicop," the AC and high-voltage LED "Acrich," the "nPola" that is 10 times brighter than existing LEDs, the cutting-edge UV clean technology "Violeds," the "filament LED" technology that emits light in all directions, and the natural light LED "SunLike" are leading the global market.