Interview with Mr. Wu Zheng, Chairman and General Manager of Esdlumen

Shenzhen Eastar Electronic Co., Ltd. (Esdlumen), as a professional LED display R&D and manufacturing company, has been in the LED industry for more than 10 years. Esdlumen’s products include stage rental screens, indoor/outdoor fixed screens, fine pitch screens, stadium screens, window screens and so on. Esdlumen's products are sold to foreign and domestic markets, which are widely praised and greatly influence domestic and foreign markets.

Esdlumen was merged into LianTronics Co., Ltd. (300269) in 2014, and together with its LED business unit (referred to as “LianTronics”) they are two key actors riding the LED display market. There are many doubts in the industry regarding the connection between LianTronics and Esdlumen. During the LED China 2020 Exhibition, Mr. Wu Zheng, the vice president of LianTronics and the Chairman and General Manager of Esdlumen, accepted an interview with a LED industry media. Mr. Wu gave a detailed answer about Esdlumen’s exhibition situation and the relationship between Esdlumen and LianTronics.

Consider both fixed and rental markets

Focus on the consumer market

At this exhibition, Esdlumen launched four new products: KingKong 1.2, BIM Mini 1.9, BIM Pro 1.9 and Pilot 2.6, all of which were publicly exhibited for the first time in China.

Security monitoring is one of the main applications of indoor fixed LED display. The large security monitoring screen on Esdlumen’s booth was made of 96 cabinets of KingKong 1.2, which can realise seamless splicing. With 8K ultra-high definition display, all data graphics are clearly identifiable, reflecting the advantages of KingKong 1.2 in indoor small-pitch LED screens.

As a leader in the field of stage rental screens, Esdlumen used its Pilot P2.6 to create a stage rental application solution during the show. Pilot P2.6 can make the whole stage more colourful. It also has the features of one-key replacement of the power box, a 6kg ultra-light cabinet, fast installation and maintenance, corner protectors design, etc., which fully solves the long-lasting problem of rental screens.

The counter display was built with BIM Pro P1.9, showing the advantages of Esdlumen products in the new retail industry. The dazzling and colourful display can offer physical stores more consumer experience functions.

At the same time, Esdlumen exhibited a home theatre solution at the show. The screen was made of Esdlumen’s latest product BIM Mini P1.9, which has a narrower cabinet width and supports vertical splicing. Thus, you can easily create a curved screen, increase the quality of the visual effect, and move the high-definition shocking theatre to your home.

Mr. Wu said: Esdlumen can balance both fixed and rental products. We have a layout for all the fields, including indoor and outdoor fixed installation, stage rental, sports ground, new retail, etc. This time, we are the first company to exhibit home theatre applications in the industry, and we will develop more in the direction of consumer electronics in the future. The consumer market will be our focus in the future.

Internal integration and optimisation

Building a new pattern of development

Regarding the relationship between Liantronics and Esdlumen, as the industry cannot agree, what is the current situation of these two companies?

Mr. Wu said that Esdlumen and LianTronics are both subsidiaries of LianTronics Group. In addition to being the chairman and general manager of Esdlumen, Mr. Wu Zheng is also the head of the overseas department of LianTronics and Esdlumen. He is also the director and vice president of the parent company LianTronics. Therefore, Esdlumen and LianTronics are real sibling companies.

During the pandemic, Esdlumen has been carrying out a true deep integration with LianTronics. The two companies carried out a series of integrations at the beginning of this year, and proposed the overall policy of “one group, one platform, two brands and two teams”. They have been promoting their dual-brand positioning, the adjustment of organisational structure, the division of the export team and growth measures, the sharing of products and empowerment of promotion, the adjustment of authorisation and the implementation of the system.

The two companies have carried out corresponding integration from the supply chain to the R&D backend, and each has its own brand strategy in their launched products, and each has its own customer positioning, and each has its own focus area. In this way, the quality and cost of the products can be optimised, and at the same time, the characteristics of each product can be fully utilised, a new development pattern can be constructed, so as to give full play to their brand advantages and bring customers more professional and cost-effective products and services.

Mr. Wu said: “We have carried out such integration work during the pandemic, which has made the company’s operation more optimised and products more focused. It brought better quality and better stable products and services to our customers. This is what we have invested in in the past few months; further integration and optimisation will continue in the next few months.”

Dual-brand operation strategy

Co-create unlimited possibilities for LED display

Mr. Wu also answered to this question: what is the current position of LianTronics Group for Esdlumen? Both are excellent LED brands, and will Esdlumen and LianTronics have a competitive relationship in the market?

LianTronics and Esdlumen are both subsidiary brands of LianTronics Group. LianTronics’s current business is centred on the domestic market, focusing on small-pitch fixed products. The core of Esdlumen’s current business is more about overseas sales, with a balanced layout of fixed and rental product lines.

From the perspective of brand strategy, in the future, Esdlumen’s product positioning will develop in a more novel and fashionable direction, keeping up with the pace of fashion. The products of LianTronics will be more stable and considered from the perspective of technology or production leanness. They will adopt a dual-brand operation strategy in the market to create differentiated product positioning. Esdlumen has a solid foundation in the overseas market, and LianTronics has better foundations in the domestic markets. In the future, the two brands can complement each other and learn from each other.

Esdlumen launched at least four new products in the first half of 2020: Helios, BIM Mini, Blade Series and CW Series. And these four products are also along the strategic direction of fashion, which are developed in the direction of advertising, retail and entertainment scenes.

Mr. Wu said: “The sharing of the supply chains of the two companies will lead to a substantial reduction in the operating costs of the company. The flexibility in the production and supply chains will be greatly increased, while the brand operations on both sides are independent of each other. Using such a dual-brand operational strategy is a very good development trend for our suppliers and customers. Therefore, the products of LianTronics and Esdlumen are the core of each other. The two parties are not competitors, but sibling companies. The dual-brand operation strategy of the platform can five the greatest advantage to satisfying customer needs and open up the infinite possibilities of LED display!”

Regarding the next development plan of Esdlumen, Mr. Wu said that he himself is a corporate strategy consultant, and he conducts detailed data analysis on the company’s development strategy. Next, the customer groups of Esdlumen and LianTronics will be detailed. The analysis and differentiation of the two companies can accurately distinguish the positioning needs of customers and provide customers with the most professional services to ensure that the two companies develop better in their own focus markets.

PS: integration and optimisation are the overall keynotes of Esdlumen this year. Mr. Wu said that at the moment when the performance challenge is not particularly big, it is just right to cultivate the company’s “internal strength”, comprehensively optimise and upgrade the company. After the market gradually recovers, the brand-new company will go into battle invincible and win the future together!