Bridgelux announced a major expansion of its China operations, significantly increasing its investment and capabilities in China. To better serve its rapidly growing customer base in China, Bridgelux has opened a major R&D center in Xiamen dedicated to supporting the development and manufacture of new solid state lighting products, including extensions to its best in class V Series Chip-on-Board (COB) product line.  In addition, Bridgelux will be opening an applications lab in Shanghai’s Hongqiao district to assist its China customers with the design and enhancement of lamps and fixtures that integrate Bridgelux’s highly regarded LED light source products.

The Chinese LED market has expanded rapidly over the last decade, with an estimated 32B RMB in revenue from LED lamps and luminaire and over 8B RMB in revenue at the LED package level in 2013. With its dedication to high quality, low cost LED solutions, Bridgelux has grown its business steadily over its 10-year history in the country.  “Our customers in China are playing an increasingly important role in the global lighting market,” said Tim Lester, Bridgelux’s vice president of operations and chief financial officer. “We are committed to supporting them in their rapid growth and worldwide expansion by dramatically increasing our local in-country capabilities.”

Opened earlier this year, Bridgelux’s Xiamen R&D facility is co-located with Kaistar Lighting, a strategic supply chain partner and investor in the Company. In only a few months, Bridgelux has hired several engineers and installed state-of-the art pilot line and test equipment. Bridgelux plans to continue to build critical engineering and product development capabilities at the Xiamen facility through 2014 and beyond. Moving forward, Bridgleux plans to utilize the Xiamen facility in support of the development and manufacture of products geared to meet the requirements of the Chinese market, working closely with Kaistar and taking full advantage of the Company’s manufacturing assets in the region.

Bridgelux’s new Shanghai applications lab will be located in the company’s existing office location in the Hongqiao area of Shanghai.  The Shanghai applications lab will be modeled after the Bridgelux Application Test (BAT) lab at the Company’s headquarters in Livermore, CA, providing critical application design support, including  optical, mechanical, thermal, and certification testing services.  With these capabilities on the ground in China, Bridgelux will be well positioned to support its customers’ need for faster cycle times.

“Bridgelux has established an impressive reputation as a leading provider of high performance, cost competitive LED light sources and has been rewarded with a rapidly expanding China business ,” said Lester. “With our new Xiamen and Shanghai investments, we are further demonstrating our commitment to the success of our China customers.  With the help of local Bridgelux resources, our customers will be better positioned to participate in the rapid replacement of legacy technologies with high quality, cost effective LED lamps and fixtures in China and throughout the world.”