Kelington Group Bhd (KGB), which dedicated in ultra-high purity gas and chemical infrastructure, has targeted to China's LED market.
According to Group president and chief operating officer Ong Weng Leong, the company already had LED jobs in China but expected to capitalise further on the growth prospects there. Meanwhile the company had also done jobs for companies in Malaysia, but felt that the prospects were no where near as great as China.
According to reports, Chinese lighting market reached US$12.2bil (RM39bil) in 2010, accounting for 15.4% of the global market share, buoyed by continued economic growth and infrastructure expansion. And the Chinese lighting market share can is expected to rise to 18.3% in 2015, with the total Chinese market value reaching US$20bil.
Ong thought that the demand for LED lights was spurred by international events such as the 2008 Olympics. He said that the only challenge facing the LED industry was the higher cost of such products. One of the obstacles is cost. But with mass production in the future, the price will come down."
In March 2010, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui announced that the Government would phase out the use of such lights in stages leading to a complete ban in 2014.
The Government will stop the import and sale of the bulbs by that date as part of efforts to save power. Incandescent light bulbs, are considered less energy-efficient andnot as environmentally-friendly as compact fluorescent lamps, fluorescent tubes and LEDs. Chin said the use of these bulbs would help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 732,000 tonnes a year.
Ong applauded the move by the Government to boost the demand for the local LED industry, adding however that it needed to attract more investors to be able to grow the segment.
Additionally, Ong said Taiwan also offered good prospects in the LED industry.
Taiwanese government has decided to invest 2.8 billion Taiwan dollars (RM297.89mil) within three years to replace the existing 326,000 mercury street lights with LEDs. The move is estimated to generate 4.5 billion Taiwan dollars in production value for the LED lighting industry and save power consumption by 143 million kilowatt-hours per year.
