Penang LED tester device makers' charged up

GEORGE TOWN: The order book of light-emitting-diode (LED) test equipment manufacturers in Penang is already filled to the brim for the nine months of the 2014 fiscal year.

Elsoft Research Bhd group chief executive officer C.E. Tan told StarBiz that so far it had attracted between RM25mil and RM30mil worth of orders since January, which it was now in the process of delivering to the customers in Asia Pacific and Malaysia.

“We have yet to receive orders for the fourth quarter, which is expected to slow down a bit due to the Christmas holidays.

“The buying trend so far is in line with the projection of Digitimes Research, which estimates that the production value for high brightness LED chips will increase by 12.9% to reach US$12.74bil in 2014,” Tan said.

He added that based on the orders so far secured, the group’s performance for 2014 could be expected to surpass last year’s.

Last year’s first six months saw the group register about RM17mil in sales revenue.

According to Digitimes Research, the global LED lighting market size will reach US$25.82bil this year or a market penetration rate of 23.4%, driven by the growth in demand for light bulbs, tubes and directional lamps.

“With pricing trending downward, the annual LED lighting output value will grow 38.8%,” the Digitimes Research report added.

The Taiwan-based Digitimes Research focuses on monitoring key high-tech industries and also guides clients toward suitable new businesses.

Tan said its LED testers were used for checking high-brightness LED modules used in the general lighting and automotive industries.

“These are highly customised LED testers with special functions, which have the capability to test between 3,000 and 8,000 units of LED chips per hour. They are priced around US$150,000,” he said.

Meanwhile, MMS Venture managing director T.K. Sia said the group had secured over RM20mil worth of orders from US multinational corporations in Asia and directly from the US for the first nine months of 2014.

“Delivery of the test equipment will be fulfilled by the end the third quarter.

“The orders secured should help the group to boost its performance for the 2014 fiscal year ending in December, which should see double-digit growth in sales compared with a year ago,” Sia said.

MMS’ customised LED test equipment are capable of performing vision inspection, test handling tasks, and laser-marking identification codes on the LEDs and checking the brightness and colour of LEDs.

LED test equipment with integrated functions are sold between RM1mil and RM2mil per unit in the international market today.

“These multi-function equipment cuts down the need for our customers to outsource processes such as vision inspection and laser-marking tasks. Fewer operators and engineers would also be required to man the production process of LED modules. Generally, our LED test equipment reduces cost of producing LED by 20% to 30%,” Sia said.