Everlight, Taiwan’s leading LED packager, showcased a variety of LED applications at GILE 2019, including Mini LED display modules, fine-pitch display, automotive LED products, UV LEDs, IR LEDs, horticulture lighting and more. It even showcased for the very first time lighting products of WOFI, its German subsidiary, which stood out from the rest with designs rich with lines and curves, catching the eyes of many visitors.

LEDinside had the chance to hold interviews with P.Y. Liu, Board of Director and Chief Consultant of Everlight, and Eason Chen, Manager of Sales and Marketing China Group of Everlight. They introduced Everlight’s multi-faceted product portfolio and technological developments.

(P.Y. Liu, Board of Director and Chief Consultant of Everlight,)

Mini LED Targets Wearables and Large Display Panels with Automotive Displays Ready to Enter Mass Production

At Everlight’s booth at GILE, a 160-inch, small-pitch RGB display panel stood in all its glory, boasting saturated colors and sharp contrasts. This year Evelight also showcased its RGB, full-color Mini LED display module for the first time, with 25 slabs of 60mm*60mm modules pieced together to form a 16.7-inch monitor. Pitch size of the display was only 0.75mm. Compared to common packaging techniques, Everlight utilized flip-chip COB technology, allowing Mini LED chips to be directly placed on PCB backplanes.

“The first applications of Mini LEDs should be wearables,” says Liu. The combination of Mini LEDs with the common water-resistant functionality seen on wearables will raise confidence and reliability of the products. Everlight products have already reached mass production standards.

Everlight is also eyeing the potential possessed by large, commercial signage, and thinks that fine-pitch displays and Mini LEDs have quite the edge in high-end display applications. Apart from display modules, Everlight is also actively working on backlight technology, adopting a Mini LED design that arrays large amounts of LED chips in a starry pattern with pitches of 4-12mm. This allows excellence local dimming function of the backlight, boosting the contrast effect and enhancing display quality. The technology has been used in gaming displays.

Automotive displays also form one of the main foci in development. Everlight created an automotive backlight display integrating dashboard and control panel which also adopt Mini LED structure in a starry pattern. Liu said the product has been verified by an international automobile manufacturer.

Horticulture Lighting, UV LED and IR LED Continue to Shine

Everlight’s highlights in GILE this year also included special lighting as well as invisible LED applications with UV and IR LED products.

With increasing numbers of states in North America legalize cannabis, horticulture lighting business is booming even more. “Many customers want their grow lights with LED chips made in Taiwan. This is the advantage that we possess as a Taiwanese packaging supplier,” said Liu. Everlight has long collaborated with Taiwanese chip suppliers such as Epistar, and is well positioned to snatch the opportunity in the speciallighting sector, which places a premium on quality and reliability.

Everlight covers a complete range of horticulture lighting product lines, including power rates of 0.2W, 0.5W, 1W and many others, and adopts both the strategies of offshoring to manufacturing giants and direct sales. Due to gross margins of horticulture lighting being higher than common lighting, Everlight hopes to increase the sales of these plant luminaires with an aim to bring it up to at least 5% of total revenue.

For UV LED applications, Everlight provides UVA LED modules for industrial curing and printing applications, as well as for UVC LED disinfection applications, which are currently gaining traction. Liu noted that disinfection UVC LED products are widely used in refrigerators, AC, cleaning robots and other household appliances, with market momentum in water-purification receiving great attention as well.

IR LED product development, on the other hand, is propelled by smartphone touch panels, biometric applications and IoT-combined environmental sensing components. The sensory functions that electric cars and autonomous driving technology rely on also bring about growth and development for optical components. Everlight has developed high power IR LED products to meet the ever-increasing needs of the market, and has currently sent the product for verification.

German Brand WOFI Arrives in the Asian Market

Everlight had its European lighting brand WOFI setting foot on Asian soil for the first time as well. WOFI was founded in 1959 in Germany, and is now enjoying its 60th anniversary. Everlight acquired WOFI back in 2013 to broaden its range of market channels, bringing the German brand under Everlight’s wing. In 2019, Everlight officially introduced the brand into the China market, promoting the European variety of indoors luminaire design.

A wide variety of luminaires with German root were crafted by a team of European designers, giving off a vibrant, yellow light in the exhibition. The products also merged flawlessly into the interior background with their concise, modern curves and lighting up the living space with a cozy, warm glow. With its specially styled brand and design, Everlight strives to provide Chinese consumers with quality and dependable luminaires and differentiate itself in this red ocean of an industry.

Flexible Production Line Lessen Impacts of the Trade Dispute on Everlight

The LED industry has endured severe challenges in this past year. Besides fierce competition among competitors within the industry, the ongoing US-China trade dispute also poses additional challenges. Everlight adjusted its product portfolio against these difficult odds and proactively developed niche applications, persevering in 2018 as operational performance remained profitable.

“Half of Everlight’s capacity are from Taiwan; the other half, China. Hence, Everlight was not affected by the US’s tariff policies by much,” explained Liu. Orders directly bound for the US would be manufactured in Taiwan, and are thus unaffected by the tariffs, while orders for other regions stay manufactured in China. This widely distributed production capacity allows great flexibility in reallocation. In the face of unpredictable macroeconomic risks, Everlight stands fast as Taiwan’s top packaging supplier, ready to adapt its strategies to fit the situation.