INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Certain information provided in this section is derived from various official or publicly available sources comprising certain articles, reports and publications, the preparations of which were not commissioned by the Group. The Company and the Sponsor have exercised reasonable care in reproducing such official information from the sources referred to in this prospectus. Such official information, however, has not been prepared or independently verified by the Company, the Sponsor, the Joint Lead Managers, the Underwriters or their respective directors or advisers. The Company, the Sponsor, the Joint Lead Managers, the Underwriters, their respective directors and advisers or any other parties involved in the Share Offer make no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of this official information, which may not be consistent with information compiled from other sources, and accordingly such information contained in this section may not be accurate and should not be unduly relied upon. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Capacitor Market Overview Capacitors are widely used electronic components A capacitor is a passive electronic component that stores energy in the electric field between a pair of closely-spaced conductors. In its simplest form, a capacitor consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulating material called the dielectric. The capacitance is directly proportional to the surface areas of the plates, and is inversely proportional to the separation between the plates. Capacitance also depends on the relative permittivity of the substance separating the plates. Capacitors have two main features: . Capacitors can charge or discharge electricity. This function is applied to smoothing circuits of power supplies, backup circuits of microcomputers, and timer circuits that make use of the periods to charge or discharge electricity. . Capacitors can block the flow of direct current. This function is applied to filters that extract or eliminate particular frequencies. This is indispensable to circuits where excellent frequency characteristics are required. According to the type of dielectric, capacitors are classified as ceramics capacitors, film capacitors, aluminium electrolytic capacitors, tantalum electrolytic capacitors and other capacitors such as mica capacitors, glass capacitors and paper capacitors. The table below compares the advantages, disadvantages and applications among main types of capacitors. – 44 – INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Advantages Disadvantages Applications Aluminium electrolytic capacitors large capacitance, small size, low cost easily to be affected by change of temperature, tend to be ageing power switch, display monitor, TV, stereo, communication products, computer Tantalum electrolytic capacitors low leakage current, good frequency feature, wide capacitance range, mature chip type technology and product structure lack of tantalum resource, tend to pollute the environment mobile phone, computer Ceramics capacitors highly chip type, good high frequency feature, can with stand high voltage, cheap price small capacitance communication products, such as computer, main board, mobile phone Film capacitors good temperature feature and frequency feature, low impedance difficult to reduce the size and convert to chip type home electrical appliances, military equipment, astronautics equipment Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 According to Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 prepared by Information Centre of China Electronic Components Association and Beijing Zhi Duo Xing Information Technology Co., Ltd. (北京智多星信息技術有限公司), a market information provider on the PRC electronics industry, despite the fact that the disadvantages of aluminium electronic capacitors limit certain applications, they firmly take above 30% capacitor market share on the strength of large capacitance and low price. In addition, along with the development of electronic technology such as automotive electronic and frequency conversion technology, aluminium electrolytic capacitors are expected to occupy a larger market share. The chart below illustrates 2005 global market share of each type of capacitors. Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 – 45 – INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market overview At present, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the PRC are main nations and territories for the production of aluminium electrolytic capacitors in the world. According to the Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007, the global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market grew steadily by 2% to 5% per annum prior to 2001. However, it declined by approximately 16% in 2001 due to the global economy recession. In 2002, recovery from the economic downturn led to a sustained recovery of global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market which made a year-on-year growth rate of approximately 21% and recorded a global sales turnover of approximately US$4,400 million. The recovery has gained momentum in 2003 supported by the rising demand for consumer electronic products and the global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market recorded sales turnover of approximately US$4,620 million, representing a year-on-year growth rate of approximately 5%, which accounted for approximately 30% of the global capacitor market. In 2004 and 2005, the global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market remained a steady year-on-year growth rate of approximately 4% and recorded a global sales turnover of approximately US$4,805 million and US$5,000 million respectively. In 2006, the global aluminium electrolytic capacitor market made a new record of a global sales turnover of approximately US$5,300 million, representing a year-on-year growth rate of approximately 6%, and it is expected to further increase at a rate of approximately 7% to reach a global sales turnover of approximately US$5,670 million in 2007. The chart below sets forth the historical and forecasted figures for global aluminium electrolytic capacitors sales turnover in terms of units from 2004 to 2007, which represents a CAGR of approximately 7.9% for the period from 2004 to 2007. billion units 240 205 200 220 190 175 160 120 80 40 0 2004 2005 2006E 2007F Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 – 46 – INDUSTRY OVERVIEW The PRC aluminium electrolytic capacitor market (i) The output of and demand for aluminium electrolytic capacitors in the PRC In the PRC, more than 90% of the capacitor supply comes from aluminium electrolytic capacitors, ceramic capacitors and film capacitors, and among others, aluminium electrolytic capacitors contribute the largest portion. The chart below sets forth the historical and forecasted figures for the output of and demand for aluminium electrolytic capacitors in the PRC from 2004 to 2007, where the output and demand represent a CAGR of approximately 8.7% and 10.4% respectively for the period. 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 According to Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007, as PC products and audio-visual products are becoming more popular, their main board, display monitor and power supply device will stimulate the demand for aluminium electrolytic capacitors. In addition, following the rapid development of technology, the application area for aluminium electrolytic capacitors is broadened. As such, it is foreseen that aluminium electrolytic capacitors will have a prosperous future. (ii) Global manufacturing of aluminium electrolytic capacitors tends to converge towards the PRC The PRC gains the preference of overseas aluminium electrolytic capacitor manufacturers by virtue of the centralized manufacturing base for electronic complete sets, low production cost, preferential tax policy and large labor force in the PRC. The number of aluminium electrolytic capacitor manufacturers in the PRC has grown significantly, with a number of Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean companies establishing aluminium electrolytic capacitor manufacturing sites in the PRC. According to Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007, the output of aluminium – 47 – INDUSTRY OVERVIEW electrolytic capacitors in the PRC amounted to approximately 86 billion units in 2006, which is expected to increase to 90 billion units in 2007, representing approximately 42.0% of 2006 global output and approximately 40.9% of 2007 expected global output respectively. (iii) Aluminium electrolytic capacitors in the PRC shows an import surplus According to Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007, the PRC is an important aluminium electrolytic capacitor manufacturing base as well as a main consuming nation. The PRC exports a great quantity of aluminium electrolytic capacitors as well as imports a considerable quantity of aluminium electrolytic capacitors to satisfy domestic demand. As boosted by the booming end market in the PRC, new demand and requirement have been raised for aluminium electrolytic capacitors from time to time. However, small production scale and relatively low-grade products hinder indigenous aluminium electrolytic capacitors’ manufacturers from meeting such demand. Consequently, the PRC has to rely on import to meet domestic new demand and requirement. According to statistic figures released by the Customs of the PRC, international trading in aluminium electrolytic capacitors has shown an import surplus from the standpoint of the PRC since 2000. The import surplus reached a new record of approximately US$627 million or 55.1 billion units in 2006. Moreover, growth of import of aluminium electrolytic capacitors, in terms of US dollar, outpaces that of export for the period from 2000 to 2006. Such international trading position displays strong domestic demand for aluminium electrolytic capacitors. The two charts below show the historical figures for export and import of aluminium electrolytic capacitors in the PRC from 1999 to 2006, where export and import in terms of US dollar respectively experienced a CAGR of approximately 14.2% and 33.2% for the period from 1999 to 2006 while export and import in terms of units respectively experienced a CAGR of approximately 10.8% and 17.3% for the period from 1999 to 2006. 100 1200 80 1000 800 60 600 40 400 20 200 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 0 2006 2000 Source: China Customs Statistics Yearbook – 48 – 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Application of Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors Monitor, compact disc, color TV, power supply device and main board emerge as the typical application of aluminium electrolytic capacitors. The chart below illustrates the end market worldwide for aluminium electrolytic capacitors in 2005. Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 According to China Centre of Information Industry Development, the increase in usage of aluminium electrolytic capacitors in PC, home electrical appliances and communication is benefiting from the rapid development of the products in converging sectors of computing, consumer and communication. Whereas, the price of aluminium electrolytic capacitors applied in these products has been subject to falling trend. The main reason is that the production technology of aluminium electrolytic capacitors is approaching mature, and manufacturers usually fight for purchase orders by cutting price as a result of fierce competition. Nevertheless, these products still show strong demand for aluminium electrolytic capacitors and the demand will continue to grow. The table below sets forth the global output of main products in converging sectors of computing, consumer and communication from 2004 to 2008, which shows overall high growth rates. PC . . . . . . . . . . . Laptop computer Mobile phone . . . Main board . . . . . Digital camera . . 2004 2005 2006E 2007F 2008F CAGR (million units) (million units) (million units) (million units) (million units) (%) 119 46 681 137 67 129 59 810 145 77 137 73 913 153 85 145 83 970 162 92 155 99 1,040 170 97 Source: Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007 – 49 – 6.8% 21.1% 11.2% 5.5% 9.7% INDUSTRY OVERVIEW According to the Research Report on Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor Market China 2007, consumption of aluminium electrolytic capacitors is relatively higher in traditional home appliances, such as color TV and audio, which the demands are stable. Meanwhile, aluminium electrolytic capacitors are experiencing stronger growth in computer and communication areas. The table below sets forth the average numbers of aluminium electrolytic capacitors required for the following products: Consumption (unit) . . . . . . . . . . . Pentium 3 main board Pentium 4 main board 15–30 40–60 Display 15–118 Power supply device 10–32 Color TV 98 Audio 17–100 REGULATORY MATTERS RELATING TO THE INDUSTRY According to the existing Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries of PRC, the aluminum electrolytic capacitors industry (including aluminum electrolytic foils) is not categorised as a prohibited industry for foreign investment. As advised by the legal advisers of the Company as to PRC laws, there are currently no laws or specific policies imposed by the central government or local governments of the PRC to restrict foreign investment in the aluminum electrolytic capacitors industry. However, since waste water, exhaust gas and other waste materials will be produced during the aluminum electrolytic capacitors manufacturing process which are hazardous to the environment, certain PRC laws, regulations and policies are applicable to the production of aluminum electrolytic capacitors. These laws, regulations and policies include: — Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (中華人民共和國 環境保護法); — Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (中華人民共和國大氣污染防治法); — Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Materials (中華人民共和國固體廢物污染環境防治法); — Law of the People’s Republic of China on Assessment of Environment Impacts (中 華人民共和國環境影響評價法); — Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution (中華人民共和國環境噪聲污染防治法); — Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (中華人民共和國水污染防治法); — Implementing Rules on the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (中華人民共和國水污染防治法實施細 則); – 50 – INDUSTRY OVERVIEW — Measures on Administrative Penalty for Environmental Protection (環境保護行政 處罰辦法); — Measures on the Administration of Environmental Standards (環境標準管理辦法); — Procedures on the Administration of Environmental Protection on Construction Projects (建設項目環境保護管理程序); — Regulations on the Administration of Construction Project Environmental Protection (建設項目環境保護管理條例); — Provisions on Approval of Environmental Impact Assessment Documents Concerning Construction Projects at Different Administrative Levels (建設項目 之環境影響評價文件分級審批規定); — Administrative Provisions on Completion Inspection Concerning Environment Protection in Construction Projects (建設項目竣工環境保護驗收管理辦法); and — Interim Measures on the Administration of Water Pollutants Discharge Permit (水 污染物排放許可證管理暫行辦法). – 51 –