The article indicated that Epistar Corporation of Taiwan is also expected to adopt 6-inch wafers to its production process in mid-2011. The article cited some industry insiders who said that the cost of 6-inch wafer production remains high and mass production of LEDs on 6-inch wafers may not be economically effective [yet].

Lextar reported that it was able to overcome problems such as warping and cracking during the 6-inch production process through new-generation equipment with special focus-exposure and grinding technologies. However, the company noted that it will still take some time optimize the process for mass production. Lextar expects to start mass production of 6-inch wafers in the second half of 2011.

Lextar chairman David Su noted previously that Lextar will set up a 6-inch production plant at the end of 2011 as most LED players in Europe and Japan have already started to adopt 6-inch production equipment, while Korea-based LED makers are also focusing on expanding 6-inch equipment, and only Taiwan still remains at 2-inch production. MOCVD equipment at Lextar is expected to increase from 50 sets to 70-80 sets at the end of 2010 with mainly 4-inch models, as the company aims to become the largest production base for 4-inch wafers in Taiwan, Lextar said.