Nan Ya Photonics Inc (南亞光電), an LED chip manufacturer, said it was building a new fully automated production line to offer more competitively priced LED bulbs.
Nan Ya Photonics is the latest firm to jump on the LED lighting bandwagon. It currently manufactures LED chips mainly used in LCD backlights and LED light tubes.
Nan Ya Photonics’ new production line is scheduled to start operating in the third quarter at the earliest, with a monthly output of 500,000 LED bulbs, company chairman Wilfred Wang (王文潮) told reporters on Monday.
The fully automated system would help save on labor costs and stabilize quality and could drive down the retail price of a 7 watt LEB bulb to NT$300, the company said.
That would be more than half of the current price of up to NT$700 for a 7 watt LED bulb, it said, adding that this could stimulate mass adoption of the device.
Taiwan’s biggest LED chipmaker, Epistar Corp (晶元光電), which owns a 40 percent stake in Nan Ya Photonics, would supply the firm with LED chips.
Nan Ya Photonics is showcasing its latest LED bulbs at the Taiwan International Lighting Show, which opened yesterday at the Taipei World Trade Center. The company’s new products offer 40,000 hours of service life and use 80 percent less power than conventional lighting.
Now in its third year, the lighting expo has gained recognition among LED manufacturers, as evidenced by the rise in the number of participating companies, said Walter Yeh (葉明水), an executive vice president at Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), one of the organizers of the show.
A record 321 lighting equipment manufacturers occupying 782 booths are featured at the show. That is up from 634 booths last year and 404 booths in 2010, Yeh said, adding that he expected 1,200 buyers from 70 countries to attend the show this year.
One exhibit that grabbed attention was “smart” equipment that adjusts to changes in time and light.
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