Light-emitting
diodes (LED) manufacturer D&O Ventures Bhd is venturing
into the security control segment and has a new product in the
pipeline.
“We are planning
to unveil this product early next year. We have already
started planning and budgeting, but it is a very attractive
market segment we are looking at,” said its managing director
Tay Kheng Chiong. Tay declined to give specifics on this new
venture.
Speaking to
reporters after D&O's AGM in Petaling Jaya on May 25, Tay
said D&O, which was listed on Dec 28, had utilised 80% of
the proceeds from the initial public offering.
Tay also said
construction of a new four-storey factory and the extension to
the existing one had been fully commissioned. “The new
additions is to manufacture transistors and diodes that have
principal application in the handphone segment, which is still
an attractive market to break into,” he said.
He expected to
see returns from this investment to be significant and would
be reflected in D&O’s books in the second half of the
year. He said about 70% of its revenue came from the sales of
LED.
“We hit our
highest number of LEDs produced in April, with some 83 million
pieces in that month alone and it is expected to hit 90
million this month.
"Previously our
monthly average has been around 65 million,” said Tay, who
took this as an indication that people were moving towards LED
as a replacement for bulbs and lighting even though it was
costlier.
Tay said D&O
was buffered from the cyclical nature of the semiconductor
market due to its continued focus on LED. “We are still on the
right track and have met all our profit forecast.
"D&O is still
facing competition from Taiwanese companies but we are working
to continuously create value-added services for our
customers,” he said.
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