Electronics component maker Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said that it plans to boost its new medical equipment business revenue to NT$10 billion (US$33.2 million) a year over the next five or six years.
“As the information technology industry around the world becomes increasingly competitive, we have decided to utilize our expertise in electronics and enter a field with a higher entry barrier,” division chief executive Danny Liao (廖學福) told reporters yesterday.
The division yesterday launched the first medical device developed in Taiwan for testing human health conditions, and it expects shipments of the device would reach 1,200 units this year, said Audrey Lin (林玉娟), assistant vice president of the company’s medical and biotechnology business unit.
The division’s new product — Skyla HB1 — which can provide results within 15 minutes for blood tests examining the function of the liver, kidney and the pancreas, as well as cardiovascular function, received approval in Europe in November 2012 and is sold in Taiwan, Europe, the Middle East and across Southeast Asia, Lin said.
Lin said the product is expected to pass the inspection of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second quarter next year and receive approval in China to enter its market in the second half of next year.
As for the company’s medical devices for examining pets’ health, which were launched in July last year, Lin expects its shipments to rise to 600 units this year, up from 200 units a year ago.
The device for pets is currently sold in Taiwan, Europe, across Southeast Asia and China, Lin said.
Both the medical devices for humans and for pets are priced at between US$10,000 and US$15,000 each, Lin said, adding that gross margin for both devices is about 60 percent, higher than 12.14 percent posted by Lite-On in the first quarter.
Although the division spent NT$300 million a year on research and development, because of rising sales of the two devices, the division is to swing to the black in the fourth quarter this year and remain profitable throughout next year, when its products enter more markets, Lin said.
The division was set up in 2011, and half of its personnel came from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), with another half from Lite-On.
The division purchased the technology for its medical devices from the institute, and it sells these medical devices under its own brand “Skyla,” it said.
Liao and Lin made the statements at a press conference after Lite-On donated 18 medical devices and their supplies to six counties yesterday.
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