In its sixth edition this year, the annual Hong Kong International Lighting Fair attracted a record number of both exhibitors and visitors during its four-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center Oct. 27-30, 2004, further adding luster to its prestige as Asia's largest sourcing event for lighting products and ranking it among the world's top three international lighting exhibitions.

According to statistics compiled by show organizer Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the number of this year's exhibitors hit a record high of 895, representing an increase of 20.1% over the corresponding figure of 745 in 2003. The international nature of the fair was underscored by the fact that the exhibitors came from 24 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

The same tallies also indicated that the number of visitors to the show also set a new record of 21, 949, up 19.12% from 2003. Of them, some 12, 500 came from overseas, up 17.83% from one year earlier, and they were mainly from mainland China, the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Canada, Thailand, and South Korea, among others.

The lighting fair was originally run with the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, but due to the crossover between lighting and hardware, since 2003 it has been rescheduled to coincide with the Hong Kong Hardware and Home Improvement Fair. The "marriage" of the two fairs means extra value for trade visitors, providing them an ideal opportunity to source creative lighting and hardware products under the same roof, said Alan Wang, acting executive director of the HKRDC, at the opening ceremony of the twin fairs.

In fact, the Hong Kong lighting fair has become a major annual event that international buyers can't afford to miss if they are to source lighting products from the Greater China area, according to Kuo Ching-tsong, general manager and vice president of China Economic News Service (CENS), organizer of a 118-member Taiwan exhibitor group to the show. "The rapid growth of the lighting industries in three major places across the Taiwan Strait has aroused great attention from international buyers, and the Hong Kong lighting fair has served as the most important platform for them to conduct one-stop shopping of lighting products from suppliers in the Greater China region, " Kuo stressed.


Kuo continued that the number of Taiwanese exhibitors has grown all the way from 12 six years ago to a record high of 118 this year. "Our exhibitors keep returning to the fair because they do good business each time they attend. Newcomers are encouraged to participate by word of mouth and are keen to expand their international presence through this platform."


The same situation was also seen in participation of exhibitors from the other two places across the Taiwan Strait. Based on the show organizer's statistics, there were a total of 443 exhibitors from mainland China this year, representing a sharp growth of 32.6% from last year's 334; and the number of local exhibitors of Hong Kong also surged 9% to 291 from 267. In total, over 95% of exhibitors at this year's lighting fair came from the Greater China region, making the fair a grand annual gathering for lighting makers of the region.



Something for Everybody



This year, the show was divided into three main sections--design, production and services; lighting applications; and lighting products and systems, covering 19 different product categories such as chandeliers, lamps, lampshades, flash lights, Christmas lighting, office lighting, outdoor luminaries, industrial luminaries, lighting systems, accessories and components, among others.

One of this year's big attractions was the new "Outdoor Lighting" zone, a special area set aside for 27 exhibitors to showcase their novel outdoor lighting ideas and products such as street lamps, garden lights and other outdoor luminaries. "We have seen an increase in the number of buyers looking for this category of product, and setting up such a new zone makes it easy for them to find what they want, " said Anne Chick, senior exhibitions manager of the HKTDC.

Another contender for top spot was the "Bright Homes" Central Display Area showcasing well-designed and creative indoor modern lighting products and throwing light on various ways of incorporating lighting into the home.

The organizer also arranged a series of seminars during the four-day show. One of them was titled "Solid State Lighting Concept Trends and Applications, " with a keynote speech by Alvin Tse, regional product marketing manager of BU Luminaries, an affiliate of Philips Lighting. Tse said while conventional floodlighting can be a subtle, dignified and highly effective tool for showcasing or advertising historic buildings, monuments, bridges and modern buildings, landscape lighting calls for something more than simply shinning a floodlight on a structure, however.

Tse continued that city beautification involves professional lighting design with a "feel" for and insight of the aesthetics of the architecture and the landscape, backed by an appropriate range of technical equipment. "The emergence of solid state lighting (SSL) technology, especially in terms of its flexibility and efficiency, has given designers more scope, particularly in the use of color. SSL makes it easy to use color and control the strength of the lighting, in addition to being safe and environmentally friendly. It is not subject to climate changes, making it ideal for outdoor use."



"SSL" Spells Money and Profits



Actually, a significant feature of this year's lighting fair was that quite a few exhibitors, especially those from Taiwan, rushed to display SSL technology applications, mainly light-emitting diode (LED) lighting applications. One of them was SWEEO LED Lighting, now a specialized supplier of LED lighting modules in Taiwan. "We attend the show for the first time to publicize our LED modules for commercial lighting applications, such as architecture lighting, decoration lighting, entertainment lighting, and many others, " said Jeff Chuang, head of the firm's 30-member R&D department.

During the four-day exhibition, the firm's four booths were usually crowded with foreign buyers showing keen interest in the company's LED lighting modules. "Enjoying unexpectedly good exhibition performance, we will surely return to the fair next year and may book more exhibition space, " Chuang continued.

The firm now cooperates with Osram of Germany to develop many LED modules for lighting suited to any weather and environment, and it also uses emitters supplied by Lumileds Lighting of the U.S. to design different applications, such as automotive lighting--turn lamps, tail lamps, and brake lights, especially for the aftermarket for auto lights.

According to Chuang, SWEEO is now technically capable of supplying modules of LEDs ranging in power from one to five watts. "We'll focus on developing high value-added LED modules and sell them to makers of lighting products, instead of joining the production of LED lighting fixtures." He expected the growing application of LED to automotive lighting will spawn LED applications to home lighting in 2007 at the latest.

Color Stars Inc. also saw its booths frequently crowded with buyers seeking LED lighting products. The company, just founded in Taiwan in mid-2003 by veterans in the electronics, telecom and lighting fields, is a specialist in LED system integration. "We're quite versed in key infrastructure engineering, including the controller, of LED lighting system, and our main task is to offer user-friendly LED modules to makers of lighting products at home and abroad, " said Jimmy Chen, CEO & president of the firm.


At the show, the firm displayed LED floodlights, LED cove lights and LED in-ground lights. "Our LED lighting system features up to one billion color change combinations, based on three colors, red, green and blue and at a changing pace of 100 times per second, " Chen stressed.

He continued that Color Stars aims to partner with existing professional channels such as Philips, Osram, Shorn, Rosen, and Primo to strive for LED lighting projects in mainland China, such as landmark buildings, city beautification, shopping malls, commercial centers, and entertainment establishments in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, etc. "We will also penetrate the U.S., European and other Asian markets through regional agents or distributors or through strategic partnerships with major international brand names."



Excelling at the LED



Another Taiwanese exhibitor showcasing LED lighting products was Excellence Opto. Inc., (EOI), located in Hsinchu Science-based Park in northern Taiwan and an affiliate of the UEC (United Epitaxy Company) Group. The firm displayed its latest LED traffic signals, LED consumer lights and LED lamps, also attracting great attention from show-goers.

Fanny Huang, vice group CEO and EOI's president, said, "Quite a few U.S. and European buyers expressed keen interest in our high-brightness LED lighting products, and we'll step up our R&D to better meet their demands."

Starting with LED testing equipment business nine years ago, EOI ventured into the production of LED Christmas lamp lighting just five years ago and became the first firm in Taiwan to get UL approval for LED Christmas lighting. "We're also one of the few firms in the world to design and develop LED traffic signals. Our traffic signal products feature a 90% reduction in power consumption, boast 10 times longer life than conventional ones, and have been certified by authority units in many countries such as ITE and Caltrans of the U.S. and CNS of Taiwan, " said Huang.

The firm now operates plants in Shenzhen and Dongguang to manufacture LED consumer lighting products. Huang said her firm would return to the Hong Kong lighting fair and display more LED lighting applications in 2005.



Patented Innovation In Other Forms



Besides LED lighting items, Taiwanese exhibitors also took the opportunity to unveil a variety of innovative and patented lighting products with traditional light sources at the show. Vaxcel International Co., Ltd., for instance, debuted a series of ceiling fans with integrated fan light, or dubbed as e-Fan series, which have been patented in the U.S., Taiwan and mainland China for their unique structure and rotating mechanism. "This is our second time to attend the show, and we will come back next year as it pays for us to participate, " said company chairman C.T. Chen, adding that his firm received trial orders from several new buyers from Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa, with the maximum size of each order set at one container.



The firm's e-Fan series are available with two to four spins for ceiling fans, precision balanced rotors for wobble-free operation, high density translucent polymeric fan blade, and remote control of fan speed and light dimmer, among others. In addition, the rotors have three adjustable angles that can provide different operating style and air flow, and can rotate simultaneously along with spinning of each individual fans.

Established in 1987 to specialize in ceiling fans, Vaxcel has maintained a 30-member R&D team and spends at least US$1 million on developing new products per year. "No R&D, no survival, " Chen stressed. His firm now turns out older models in Taiwan, and farms out production of innovative models in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, as opening new molds in the mainland is much cheaper than in Taiwan.

Excellent Esprit Ltd., a veteran participant in the Hong Kong lighting fair, introduced quite a few innovative spot lights, pendant lamps, wall lamps, table lamps and floor lamps. Worth mentioning is that the firm closed the "door" of its booth with a black cloth during the show, in a bid to prevent copycats from viewing the firm's new products. "We're forced to do so, because soon after we unveiled new products at a show in the past, we found our products copied by mainland Chinese counterparts, " said Vincent Chen, general manager of the firm.

The firm's lamp products feature metal stands, arms and shades, as it focuses exports to the European market, where customers prefer metal lights. The firm moved its production lines to Dongguan six years ago and now also conducts its R&D in mainland China to secure higher production efficiency.

At the show, the firm also showcased an LED pendant light to test the market response. As most buyers opined that the color of the light is too cool to accept, the firm will move to develop warm-color LED lighting technology in the coming two to three years to meet customers' demand.

Classic Lighting Co., Ltd. A specialized maker of lampshades, has also been a faithful participant in the show since its inception. "Every time we attend the show, we have found new buyers, and this year Ralph Lauren Polo of the U.S. is among our new buyers, " said Shirley Hsu, vice chairman of the firm. She continued that "the show had a broad international reach which enables us to meet many buyers from around the world."

The company relocated its production lines to Zengcheng, Guangdong Province 13 years ago, following in the footsteps of Taiwanese lamp makers. "So far, more than 95% of Taiwan's lighting makers have moved to the mainland, and many of them prefer to source lampshades there, " Hsu continued.


The firm offers a wide collection of lampshades featuring various innovative and elegant designs as well as different materials such as rattan, paper, cloth, thread, PVC, PP, leather, etc. At the moment, some 50% of the firm's lampshades are sold to Taiwanese lighting makers in the mainland and the remaining 50% exported to foreign importers and supermarkets, especially in the U.S. and Europe, Hsu said.

Exhibitors from Hong Kong and mainland China also expressed high regard for the show and rushed to unveil new products to seek more patronage from international buyers. The Hong Kong-based Luen Yick Electrical Mfg. Co., Ltd., for instance, has attended the fair since 1998, with its exhibition space expanding from 9 square meters initially to 24 square meters this year. "We come here mainly to better publicize our company and our products to more potential buyers from around the world, and we do get somewhere in this regard, " said Teresa Lee, a company secretary.

At the show, the firm displayed a new series of outdoor sight light, which has been patented in the U.S. and Europe for its well-designed structure and outward looking. The firm's outdoor sight lights range from 13W to 35W in wattage and from 652mm to 1, 588.5mm in length, all with T5fluorescent tube. "Our outdoor lights all achieve an Ingress Protection (IP) rating of 65, indicating they are totally protected against dust and water ingress, " stressed Lee.

The company also supplies a variety of other lighting products, including triphospher fluorescent fixtures, halogen lamps, linkable corner lights, desk lamps, spotlights, and floor lamps, etc. "As a one-stop solutions provider, our company maintains a strong R&D team and operates an in-house test lab with qualified engineers and experienced technicians to offer a comprehensive range of design, development and manufacturing services, " Lee said, adding that her firm is able to respond quickly to market demands and release new products continuously.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, the firm maintains a production base in Huizhou, Guangdong. In addition to OEM and ODM production for international customers, the firm also markets its products under own brand name "Kengo." The firm records annual shipment of over three million pieces of different lighting items, and posts annual exports of US$15 million, with main export markets including Britain, France, the Netherlands, the U.S., Australia, Turkey and China.

Another Hong Kong maker Pumy Industrial Ltd. Has also appeared at the show annually as an exhibitor. "We join the Hong Kong fair every year because exhibition results from the show have been much better than from other international lighting shows we attended, such as those held in Frankfurt, Tokyo, and the U.S., " said Kent T.Y. IP, director of the firm.


The firm is a maker and exporter of indoor and outdoor lights, including garden lights, patio lights, party light chains, polyresin rock light series, available in either low voltage or solar power. At the show, the company unveiled patented low-voltage parasol lights, patented ice cube light string, water float solar balls, and various other solar lighting items.

Engaged in the line for 12 years, the firm now operates a large-sized plant in Panyu, Guangdong Province, with a workforce of 1,000 and adopting integrated production process. The firm exports all its products, with 60% to the U.S., 30% to Europe and 5% to Australia and Japan. Scoring some US$20 million in annual exports, the company spends HK$1 million on applying for such international safety certifications as UL, GS, CE, etc. for its new products, according to IP.



Home-Grown Players



Yuyao Howell Electric & Casting Co., Ltd., a lighting maker from Zhejiang Province of mainland China, attended the show for the second time. "Attracted by the growing reputation and popularity of the Hong Kong lighting fair, we began to attend the show last year and come gain this year. My feeling is that this year, buyers can be found here and there around the fairground," said Jianli Sun, general manager of the firm.

The company exhibited a series of LED lighting products, including LED wall lamps. LED brick lighting, LED in-ground lighting, and LED recessed series. "At the very beginning of our company four years ago, we directly ventured into the production of LED lighting series to cash in on great growth potential for such products," Sun stressed. The firm sources LED lighting modules mainly from Taiwanese suppliers.

It maintains a 15-member R&D team, which develops at least 80 LED lighting items per year; and many of the firm's products are patented in mainland China for outward looking and design. At the moment, the firm ships all its products abroad, mainly to the U.S. and Europe. Sun said his company will not rule out building a domestic sales network in the future.

Also from mainland China, Guangzhou Tailing Lighting took part in the show for the first time. "We're attracted here mainly by the professionalism of this fair," said Li Lingling, company general manager. "Fortunately, we located new buyers from France, Germany and Italy this time, and we will return to the fair next year."

The company displayed a variety of table lamps, floor lamps, and ceiling lamps, all featuring polyester lampshades. "The idea came from French clients, but it can be realized only in mainland China because manufacturing polyester lampshades require intensive labor," Li said.

Li said the firm purchases the needed polyester cloth mainly from South Korea. "Polyester cloth accounts for 10% to 50% of the cost for our products, depending on the amount of cloth used," Li said. The firm exports 70% of its production, mainly to Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Southeast Asia. The company is applying for UL approval for its products to pave the way for their penetration into the U.S. market., according to Li.