Most of Thailand LED manufacturers directly import LED chips and components from China, as a result only a handful of LED chip and package manufacturers displayed products at LED Expo Thailand 2015, which took place from May 21-24, 2015 at IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center.

Some of Honglitronic's LED products showcased at LED Expo Thailand 2015. (LEDinside)

2835 and COB LEDs very popular in Thailand market

LED chip manufacturers were mostly featuring existing products at the show, such as Everlight, Lumileds, and Honglitronic. Some companies that have been in the market for over three years including Honglitronic and Everlight noted 2835 LEDs were more popular in the local market, which is partly due to the fact Thai lighting manufacturers are mostly manufacturing indoor lighting products, such as LED T8 tube lights and bulbs, explained Ruthaichanok Weingwong, Sales Executive of Honglitronic.

COB LEDs were also featured by several major Asian LED chip manufacturers including Everlight, Honglitronic, and Citizen. To cope with unstable current and voltage in Thailand, Honglitronic and Citizen were also featuring AC LED products.

Since general lighting products including LED T8 tubes and bulbs are in high demand in the Thai LED market, manufacturers have mostly been displaying LEDs for lighting applications.

Citizen as mentioned in an earlier article was the only manufacturer to be displaying new COB LED products. For further details please see here. While Everlight has been highlighting niche market applications such as automotive LEDs, IR LEDs, and LEDs for display applications.

Honlitronic's UV LED products displayed at the LED Expo Thailand 2015 including UC3535-8M, UC3535-16M, UXC2016-M3, and ULM004. (LEDinside)

Honglitronic showcases technology strength by featuring UV LEDs

Chinese LED chip manufacturer Hongliopto displayed its LED chip technology strength by displaying UV LEDs.

“Hongliopto is currently one of the leading UV LED manufacturers in China,” said the company’s Sales Manager Frank Lam. “We offer both UVA and UVC products,” said Weingwong.

However, Weingwong noted UV LEDs were not particularly well received in the local market. UV LEDs remain relatively expensive products that are not particularly popular in Southeast Asia market, observed Lam.

“We are mostly displaying UV LED products at this show to showcase our advanced lighting technology to North American buyers at this show,” explained Lam.

Similar to Japanese competitor Citizen, Hongliopto also released AC LED products. The AC LED is ideal for Southeast Asian markets where the power voltage can be at times unstable, said Lam.

Aside from its UV LED product line, Hongliopto also showcased its EMC LED. Since acquiring EMC manufacturer Smalite Optoelectronics last June, the company has acquired EMC packaging capacity, noted Weingwong, “We are especially highlighting EMC LEDs because it has taken us a much longer time to develop these products,” she added.

Honglitronic's LED modules and COB LED products in the back. (LEDinside)

The company has launched 3030 COB this year, and has been selling 2835 LEDs for indoor LED lighting applications and 3535 LEDs for streetlight applications in the market. Although, the company’s COB LED products is fairly new on the market, the company noted it has picked up somewhat.

Although, some of the company’s COBs are already being used by some leading Thai LED manufacturers, Weingwong specifically requested LEDinside not to list the manufacturers.

“In the Thailand LED market, there is still a stereotype that Chinese LED chips are inferior compared to foreign brands, so it might upset our clients if you name them,” she said.

In its second year in the Thai LED market, Honglitronic has seen revenue grow more than 30-50% in the local market, and projects it will maintain the same level of growth this year, said Lam.

Sean Zhou, Regional Marketing Director, Lumileds. (LEDinside)

Lumileds booth emphasizes LED lighting applications

This was the first year that Lumileds attended LED Expo Thailand, said Sean Zhou, the company’s Regional Marketing Director. Lumileds is already well known in the local general lighting and automotive lighting sector, but this is the first year that the company has displayed its comprehensive LED chip product portfolio at a lighting trade show in the country.

The camera was malfunctioning during this photo shoot, but at the booth it could clearly observed with the naked eye the statue on the right featuring Lumileds Crisp White LED technology was much whiter than the statue on the left. (LEDinside)

Lumileds showcased its extensive product portfolio ranging from low to high power LEDs, and COB LED product Crisp White. The Crisp White LED products emit a lighting wavelength of 420 nanometer and CRI of 90, which makes it ideal for retail lighting, wedding, and fashion lighting applications, said Zhou.

Lumileds Luxeon Z Colors, the same LEDs found in Philips Hue smart LED bulbs, were also on display at the lighting show to highlight the company’s chip technology.

RGB LEDs, however, are not very popular in the Thai LED market at the moment. “Only a few LED manufacturers have purchased,” said Zhou. He explained the Luxeon Z Colors has the most natural color transition, highlighting lime colored LEDs in the product range enables a better transition from yellow to white.

Soldered and design ready LED modules such as this LUXEON XR-3030 2D are being introduced by Lumileds into the Thai LED market. (LEDinside)

For the Thailand market where most manufacturers lack the LED packaging capacity, Lumileds is also offering LED modules, such as LUXEON XR-3030 2D.

“We can customize the color and beam design for customers,” said Sean Zhou, Regional Marketing Director. “The product is already popular in U.S. where soldering LED chips on to the board can be very costly. The product is less popular in China where labor is less costly.”

Toshiba was featuring its CSP LEDs from the TL1WK series as seen in this photo. (LEDinside)

Toshiba highlights ultra-small CSP LED Package

Toshiba was highlighting its ultra-small CSP LED product 0.2W TL1WK series white LEDs at the lighting show. The tiny LED packages have a dimension of 0.65mm x0.65 mm, and looks no bigger than the tip of a ballpoint pen.

Toshiba's CSP LEDs from the TL1WK series are incorporated Sega Toys Homestar. (LEDinside)

Designed for general lighting applications, the GaN-on-Si LED chip is already incorporated in Sega Toys Homestar, said Tan Theansukhont, Executive Marketing Engineer, Marketing Department, Toshiba. The toy mimics planetariums to project a twinkling night sky, additional colors emitted by the toy are done through using different filters, instead of using RGB LEDs.

Other Toshiba LED packages displayed at LED Expo Thailand 2015. (LEDinside)

The company currently only has white LED chip product portfolio, and relies on importing chips from Japan, he added.

Toshiba is supplying some of its LED chips to local lighting SMEs including Delight’s emergency lights, he went on.

The top four LED lighting manufacturer in Thailand might consider establishing LED chip production in Thailand to reduce costs, but it probably will not happen within the next two to three years, said Theansukhont.

(Author: Judy Lin, Chief Editor, LEDinside)