Taiwanese Suppliers Shine At Hong Kong Lighting Show

The 2003 edition of the annual Hong Kong International Lighting Fair, the largest of its kind in Asia and fourth largest in the world, was held Oct. 27-30. It attracted 742 exhibitors (up 58% from 2002) and 18,428 buyers (down 22%).

A spokesperson for the show's organizer, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), noted during the event that attendance had not been appreciably affected by the SARS epidemic that broke out in the first quarter of the year.

Some exhibitors attributed the decline in buyers to the concurrent holding of the Hong Kong International Hardware & Home Improvement Fair; prior to this year, the lighting show was held together with the high-profile Hong Kong International Electronics Fair.

Exhibitors came from 22 countries and regions, but most were from Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong. The number of mainland Chinese exhibitors rose to 334 in 2003, more than double the 130 recorded the year before. Hong Kong rounded up 266 exhibitors, up 24.3%. The number of Taiwanese exhibitors, organized by the China Economic News Service (CENS), rose 8.1% to 108.

This year's exhibit areas were divided according to three categories: lighting applications, lighting products and systems, and design and service. The organizer also arranges an industry-specific seminar to go along with the show every year; the theme of the 2003 seminar was light-emitting diode (LED) characteristics and applications, with keynote speeches by specialists from BU Luminaries, an affiliate of Philips Lighting. A Lighting Garden was also installed to give exhibitors of outdoor lighting a venue for displaying their products.

The 108 Taiwanese exhibitors at the show displayed their latest offerings in 174 booths. Kuo Ching-tsong, CENS vice president and general manager, pointed out that Taiwanese manufacturers are now highly regarded for innovation as well as quality; with many of them moving their production to mainland China in search of lower costs, they are also very competitive in terms of price. "This is a very important fair for our exhibitors, because more buyers are now sourcing in Asia," Kuo said. "Around 80% of the exhibitors have been here before, and they are all pleased with the exposure that this event gives them."

Increasingly Popular Tempered Glass

One of the exhibitors was Hony Glass Factory Co., which specializes in coated and tempered glass for lighting, electronic products, electrical appliances, and bathroom hardware. It showed off its many kinds of processed glass. According to its sales manager, Emily Chang, tempered glass is gaining popularity among lighting manufacturers thanks to such favorable features as good plasticity and easy cleaning; this is good for Hony Glass, which is one of the few makers of tempered glass in Taiwan that can boast an integrated manufacturing capability including cutting, bending, drilling, etc. Next year, the company may launch nano-coating products. "This full manufacturing capability enables us to guarantee our customers the best processing quality," Chang said.

Experience is also necessary, Chang stressed. For this reason, many of the mainland Chinese companies that have entered the industry can offer only inferior quality.

In the business for 20 years, Hony Glass moved its labor-intensive processing lines to mainland China seven years ago but has left its technically demanding coated-glass production in Taiwan. Chang pointed out that the mainland is not only emerging rapidly as a manufacturing base, but also as a primary market for tempered-glass products as more and more Taiwanese lighting manufacturers move there. She estimated that the revenues of her company's mainland factory would double in 2003.

Shiny Prospects

Shining Blick Enterprise Co., a supplier of Christmas lighting, showcased products using fiber-optics and LEDs as lighting sources. Sales executive Lina Rei pointed out that these two high-tech lighting sources are used in Christmas lighting more and more as a replacement for tungsten lamps; Shining Blick began using them two years ago, making these new products in the mainland.

The sales executive said that blue-light fibers and LEDs are the most popular in the market. Most suppliers use optical fibers in Christmas tree leaves and LEDs in strings of lights. Sales of these products in 2003 have been less than hoped for, however, because of buyers' reluctance to accumulate inventories at a time of unclear global economic prospects.

Besides the use of such new materials, Chang noted, "Service quality has a lot to do with winning or losing orders, especially when prices are only marginally different." To keep orders coming, Shining Blick makes all deliveries promptly; and, if a customer wants products that the company itself does not make, it may look for contact manufacturers to supply them.

Europe is the destination of most of the company's exported products, which bear TUV, CE, NF, and FI quality certification.

Splendid Results From Right Thinking

In the area of fiber-optic lighting, Right Splendid International Corp. had numerous patented products to show off in Hong Kong. Among the highlights of its display there was a heat-free light engine, a 150W metal-halide lamp engine that pumps light into fibers without ever heating up, even after long periods of continuous use.

Joe Lee, the company's president, studied fiber-optic technology in Germany and set up Shining Blick 14 years ago as the island's first homegrown supplier of fiber-optic lighting products. "Unfortunately," Lee laments, "most of our domestic peers have little expertise in optoelectronics; because of this it is difficult for them to make technological breakthroughs, and they mostly copy. This is a major hindrance to the domestic fiber-optic lighting industry." His company, Lee boasted, has won at least 20 patents for its products.

The president said that fiber-optics has many advantages, including low light loss, the absence of radiation, durability, and resistance to water. Lee claimed that his fiber (which is made of plastic, not glass) has a curve diameter of just 10 mm, the smallest in the world.

Right Splendid depends on exports for 70% of its revenue, but has also installed systems for many domestic customers including the Broadcasting Corp. of China (BCC), the Holiday KTV (karaoke) chain, and a major central Taiwan temple.

Wireless Security

Another exhibitor at the Hong Kong show was Everspring Industry Co., which is best known for its security-scanning systems. The company showed off its wireless-control security-lighting systems for the home market.

An Everspring salesperson in Hong Kong claimed that his company has made major inroads into the British market for household-security systems; Britain is the world's largest market for such systems, he said, a fact which inspired the company to diversify into that market.

The systems exhibited by the company employ passive-infrared wireless technology to activate lights once an intruder is detected. The range of detection is 140, 180, or 360 degrees, depending on model. The diameters of the detection areas are three meters for the 360-degree model, six meters for the 180-degree model, and 12 meters for the 140-degree model.

Fantasy Good for You

Health and environmental protection were the focus of the lights in Fantasy Lighting Co.'s display, which included a desk lamp that emits ozone particles to freshen the air and a full-spectrum desk lamp that is easy on the eyes.

The ozone lamp incorporates an ozone-particle vibrator (Fantasy president Tony Wang reported that his company is the first in the world to put an ozone generator in a lamp), and the full-spectrum lamp uses patented full-spectrum fluorescent tubes developed by Chung Gung Biotech, an affiliate of Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group. This lamp, it is said, can help prevent nearsightedness because its light is close to natural light; it is also said to show objects in their true colors, and to help users absorb Vitamin D and calcium.

The fixtures used with these lamps are made of recyclable plastic at a factory in mainland China.