Walsin Lihwa Launches LED Production Project in Mainland China

Taipei, Dec. 6, 2010 (CENS)--Walsin Lihwa Corp. contracted China Airlines late last month to transport LED-manufacturing equipment to its LED venture in Xian of mainland China, officially kicking off its US$200 million LED-production project in hope of grabbing a share of the lucrative mainland China's LED-lighting market.

The company will start tooling the venture by the end of 2010 and start volume production in the first half of 2011. The venture will produce LED chips and modules for mainland Chinese manufacturers involved in the mainland's ambitious “Ten Thousand Lights in Ten Cities”, which aims to install six million LED streetlights in 21 cities in the mainland in three years.

Walsin Lihwa, a leading supplier of electrical wires and cables in Taiwan, plans to funnel US$52 million into the venture in early stage of the project, which is part of the company's green-energy investment plans. In addition to LED, the company has branch out into solar energy.

In the solar-energy field, the company has invested in ventures of photovoltaic materials including copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and ventures of solar-system and application products. Its major investments in the field include the investment in a crystalline-silicon manufacturer in Shaanxi Province of the mainland and the 40 million euro procurement of a 49% stake in Solarion AG of Germany.

Solarion will open a factory in 2011 in Leipzig to put out 20 megawatts of solar cells and modules. In 2012, the manufacturer will boost output to 200 megawatts of wares each in Germany and Taiwan.