Alvin Lee, CEO of Armitage Represented HKETA to Analyze Electronics Industry Trends: Industrial Chain Restructuring, Widespread Robotics Applications, and Hong Kong's Advantages
The Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) 2025 concluded successfully. During the event, Alvin Lee, CEO of Armitage, was interviewed by television media as a representative of the Hong Kong Electronic Technology Association (HKETA), sharing insights on global electronics industry trends, robotics technology development, and Hong Kong's competitive advantages.
Alvin Lee pointed out that the global electronics industry trade landscape is undergoing structural changes. "In recent years, buyer sources at electronics exhibitions have clearly diversified, completely breaking the previous pattern of concentrated exports to European and American markets." With the rapid rise of emerging market demand, companies must adopt more flexible strategies to replan their global business layouts.
He further analysed the current market situation: "The stability of U.S. orders is not what it used to be. Amid ongoing Sino-U.S. trade frictions, procurement models have shown significant fluctuations—sometimes stagnating, sometimes concentrating in large volumes. This uncertainty has made both buyers and sellers more cautious and is driving companies to accelerate expansion into growth markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East."
It is noteworthy that besides the Middle East, buyers from emerging markets including India, Turkey, and Russia are also actively participating in international procurement, forming a diversified market ecosystem.
Facing the rapidly growth of advancing design capabilities of Mainland China’s electronics sector, Alvin Lee acknowledged, "The gap in technology and design levels between the two places is continuously narrowing." However, he emphasized that Hong Kong, leveraging its unique international background, still possesses irreplaceable advantages in standards alignment and certification integration.
"Due to its historical development context, Hong Kong's product standards have long been aligned with international norms. Whether it's product exports needing to comply with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), China's 3C certification, or related certifications like IP intellectual property protection, companies can more easily find professional service institutions and talent on this East-meets-West platform in Hong Kong to assist in completing international layouts."
Alvin Lee further pointed out that this unique ecosystem makes Hong Kong an ideal springboard for Chinese products going global. "Many Chinese products successfully break through geographical limitations and achieve globalized development precisely through Hong Kong's professional services and international perspective. This ability to deeply integrate international standards with local practices is precisely the core of Hong Kong's continued competitiveness."
Regarding the robotics technology that attracted much attention at this exhibition, Alvin Lee offered a structured perspective. He categorized robotics applications into different levels: "At the data collection level, we are already seeing diversified development—drones flying in the air, cleaning robots operating on the ground, and even unmanned survey vessels in water. For example, the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department has already deployed unmanned vessels for water sampling, demonstrating broad application potential."
He further analyzed the key to commercial viability: "Highly repetitive work scenarios are the easiest to commercialize, such as cleaning robots or research-assistant robots. These applications have clear return on investment and high industry acceptance." In the industrial sector, "robotic arms have matured in handling repetitive and hazardous tasks, becoming key tools for enhancing factory safety and efficiency."
As for the highly anticipated humanoid robots, Alvin Lee holds a pragmatic view: "In complex scenarios like home elderly care, humanoid robots still face challenges. Current costs are relatively high, and functions are mostly limited to guidance or performance-oriented purposes. Achieving large-scale commercial application still requires time. Although competition in this field is intense, widespread adoption is still some way off."
