Taiwanese Companies at NEPCON JAPAN Reveal Their Products and Strategies for the Japanese LED Market

As one of Asia’s biggest trade shows for electronics design and manufacturing, the annual NEPCON JAPAN has been drawing huge crowds every year. The event gathers technology suppliers, R&D teams, and industrial experts from around the world, creating valuable opportunities for business collaborations and information exchanges. This year’s NEPCON JAPAN was held at Tokyo Big Sight from 17 to 19 January.

Not wanting to miss out on a chance to establish themselves on the international stage, numerous Taiwanese companies have set up display booths at NEPCON JAPAN 2018. LEDinside had the privilege of seeing their products up close and talking with the exhibition teams about their plans in the Japanese market. The followings are highlights of our interviews with representatives of these companies as well as observations on their exhibitions.

EVERLIGHT

EVERLIGHT is the largest among them all. It exhibited products for general lighting, automotive lighting, LED digital displays, infrared and UV applications. The automotive line-up showcased covered applications of both interior and exterior lighting. In particular, the ALFS series (Headlamp 1-5 chip) with multiple chips in tiny intervals bring optics close to a single-point light source. This not only enhances the optical requirements of a headlight design, also the ON-OFF cut line will be clearer. The ceramic packed EL Micro Multi, Topview RGB and Multi Color series for WW&CW, RGB and RGBY ambient lighting respectively, can independently control brightness, operation, and light mixing. They have been marketed to Tier 1 automakers in Europe.

The ALFS series. (Image: LEDinside)

EVERLIGHT Japan Corp.'s Managing Director Hideaki Shikata said the first strategy the company would do is to raise its penetration rate in the market. Japan is overall conservative and the citizens normally prefer products made by domestic companies. However, EVERLIGHT’s market share in 2017 has seen a noticeable increase, revealed Shikata. EVERLIGHT attempts to provide the Japanese market with products of general lighting, automotive lighting, and IR LED. Because it just entered Japan, the Taiwanese LED company aims to complete product assessment by the end of this year to earn trust of the Japanese towards its automotive lighting products. Comprehensive services and fast product delivery are the advantages of EVERLIGHT to survive the competitions in Japan’s lighting market, contended Shikata.

EVERLIGHT Japan Corp.'s Managing Director Hideaki Shikata (Image: LEDinside)

The company showcased multiple IR LEDs, phototransistors, and photodiodes with different sizes and radiant intensity that can be used in various applications, including e-book readers, oximeters, and vacuum cleaners. Near the expo entry the company placed a 110” fine-pitch LED digital display using its 0808 LED packages that render a resolution of 2048*1152. It also displayed its new UV LED lineup for curing (UVA LED) and sterilization (UVC LED).

EVERLIGHT 100" fine-pitch LED display using 0808 LED packages (Image: LEDinside)

GlacialTech

GlacialTech’s product lines cover heat sinks, cooling modules, power supply modules, and LED lighting products. For NEPCON JAPAN, the company focused on its thermal solutions. Chairman Shawn Hsieh told LEDinside that Japan has a large market for high-margin thermal solutions, and GlacialTech’s core business is about cooling technologies for a wide range of applications. With considerable expertise in this market, GlacialTech has a stable client base of European and US companies, including major CPU makers Intel and AMD.

While GlacialTech has set up its manufacturing operation in China, its products surpass those made by the Chinese competitors in cost-performance. Hsieh especially introduced the company’s Igloo SS120 PLUS SKD Package, which is designed for 600W COB or MCPCB LEDs. Suitable for lighting systems in sports facilities (e.g. gyms, stadium, and arenas), Igloo SS120 PLUS has been exported to overseas markets such as Romania.

Igloo SS120 PLUS SKD Package from GlacialTech (Image: LEDinside)

GlacialTech over the years has also built up expertise in LED luminaire, as seen in this product that can be used for commercial lighting. (Image: LEDinside)

ParagonLED

This is year is the first time that ParagonLED held an exhibition at NEPCON JAPAN since it was established in 2008. ParagonLED’s main offerings are AC COB and AC SMD modules used in explosion-proof lamps, outdoor wall-mounted lamps, underwater lamps, and other luminaires for special environments. The team at ParagonLED originally came from the semiconductor sector and was able to use their know-hows in IC design and semiconductor fabrication to create driver-on-board AC LED light sources. This solution, which makes a separate LED driver redundant, allows for smaller form factors. Besides being more compact and lighter in weight, LED modules with the driver-on-board AC LEDs attain greater durability and higher luminous efficacy.

ParagonLED representatives at the exhibition (Image: LEDinside)

ParaLED SMD AC LED G2.0 (Image: LEDinside)

In the interview with ParagonLED representatives, LEDinside asked why the company has decided to come to Japan, given that most of its clients are from the US and Europe. ParagonLED explained that the company wants to take the initiative in introducing AC LEDs to the Japanese market. Although DC solutions used to be mainstream in the Japanese market, the demand there for AC LEDs has picked up in recent years. Exhibiting at NEPCON JAPAN is therefore a chance to test the water for their innovative products.

Para Light

Having been in operation for 30 years, Para Light continues to pursue the global expansion of its LED component and lighting business. The main highlight of the company’s exhibition at NEPCON JAPAN is the 7-segment LED display. Para Light told LEDinside that now is a great time to sell this type of products in Japan because local competitors have stopped making similar devices and the existing inventory is almost depleted. The company has already made arrangements with local dealers to bring in its products.

Para Light offers customizable LED displays. (Image: LEDinside)

Para Light also pointed out that the company’s major advantage is offering clients more flexibility. Compared with competitors, Para Light can deliver products faster and provide customization.

Para Light demonstrates LED light sources for gaming PC cases. (Image: LEDinside)

Para Light furthermore sees opportunities in LED lighting for gaming PCs. At NEPCON JAPAN, the company displayed examples of desktop PC cases outfitted with their LED light sources. As the market for consumer LED lighting becomes crowded with Chinese entrants, Para Light will gradually shifts its attention to niche applications such as industrial lighting and customized solutions.

Delta

As an established supplier of power products, Delta chose to display its lines of charging solutions for EVs (electric vehicles) at this year’s NEPCON JAPAN. Riding on the popularity of EVs, Delta put the spotlight on its fast charging systems during the trade show. Delta has recently developed two models of fast charging systems – a 6kW AC charger for residential use and a 25kW DC charger that can be installed in parking lots, highway rest stops, and similar venues. The wall-mounted AC charger is currently available on the market, whereas the stationary DC charger is getting ready for mass production.

Delta displays its wall-mounted AC charger (above) and stationary DC charger. (Image: LEDinside)

Cyntec, a passive component supplier under Delta, was also at the trade show presenting its automotive electronic products. Before entering the automotive market six years ago, Cyntec’s mainstay products had been power chokes for consumer electronic devices such as smartphones.

(Image: LEDinside)

Cyntec’s high-performance power chokes for the automotive application have received AEC-Q200 certification with high grades on stress tests (i.e. operating temperature range between -55°C and 165°C, exceeding 5G in vibration resistance, and 20N in hardness). Cyntec’s automotive portfolio also features power modules that embed ICs on the substrate layer. This saves installation space by as much as 70% while raising performances of the power modules at the same time. Cyntec’s automotive power modules are ultimately designed to help ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) achieve smaller form factors.

Cyntec’s automotive power modules conserve space by embedding ICs on the substrate layer. (Image: LEDinside)

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