Recently, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s Cabinet, announced it would replace all the island’s incandescent-type traffic lights with LED lamps in three years, and replace all the incandescent lamps currently serving throughout the island with energy-saving lamps in four years. Taiwan government’s energy-conservation policy will give a big boost to the island’s energy-saving lamp industry, in which many manufacturers have planned to begin volume production or sheer shipment some time this quarter.
Energy-saving lamps will first see business opportunities generated by the policy, which they say will fuel massive use of the lamps. China Electrical, currently Taiwan’s No.1 lamp maker, pointed out that the government policy would bring about huge market potential for energy-saving lighting fixtures and T5 fluorescent tubes. The uses of LED lamps would further help reduce energy consumption and CO2-gas emission. Industry watchers estimate energy-saving lamps to be one of China Electrical major revenue earners this year.
In line with the policy, the lamp maker plans to branch into production of T5 lamps using its cold cathode fluorescent lamp technology. An automated production line calling for NT$300-400 million is on the drawing board.
Lite-On has acquired Philips’ patented technology for making energy-saving lamps and entered into alliance with the heavyweight lamp maker to produce the lamps by becoming its contract supplier, and has delivered its lamps to major customers including Philips for verifications. The company’s factory in Zhenjiang of the mainland Chinese province of Jiangsu will begin volume production of the lamps in September and its factory in Indonesia, whose output capacity is much bigger, will enter into volume production in July next year.
Meanwhile, Industry watchers estimate local LED roadway-light industry to begin producing results only when all the lights on the island are changed to LED types, think that LED has lower penetration in roadway-light market than in traffic-light market and make foray into household-lighting market only when the lamp’s price runs close to that of energy-saving lamp.
