LED lighting makes hot money changes

Not long ago, the author participated in a LED seminar held in a certain place. Participants in this seminar mainly came from local companies. The number of participants was about 200. At the meeting, the author also focused on the report of Nikkei Electronics and gave a speech on the status of the LED lighting industry.

LED lighting has just entered the popular period. The purpose of this seminar is to face this potential market and provide assistance for the development of local LED related industries. The questions raised by the participants were varied. For example, “I heard that the major patents for LEDs are about to expire. What impact will this have on the LED unit price?” “In terms of markets, the market size of LED tubes replacing fluorescent tubes will How big is it?” “Is it possible to form a gathering place for the LED industry?” and so on. Many people are full of expectation but somewhat uneasy. It is true that the LED lighting market is indeed in a highly anticipated and mixed situation.

In the Japanese market, due to the power shortage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, the industry is expecting more and more of LED lighting. The sales of LED bulbs are hot, and their sales in the light bulb market once exceeded that of incandescent bulbs. Now, although the sales of incandescent bulbs once again occupy the first place, the proportion of LED bulbs accounts for 3 to 40%. Taking into account the price difference between incandescent bulbs and LED bulbs up to 10 times, the sales of LED bulbs are definitely the highest in the bulb market.

On the other hand, LED bulb prices have fallen significantly in Japan. Some even pointed out that from the perspective of the speed of price decline, LED bulbs are higher than flat-panel TVs. There are also views that the domestic LED bulb market in Japan will soon peak.

In light of the above, product manufacturers and home appliance vendors are shifting the focus of development and sales to LED ceiling lights that illuminate the entire room. The price of most LED ceiling lamps ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 yen. Although they are high-priced products, they have a good sales momentum. According to GfK Japan, LED ceiling lamps accounted for 70% of the sales of ceiling lamps in Japan in June 2012. In the stores of home appliance shopping malls, LED ceiling lights are arranged in rows and fluorescent ceiling lamps have been pushed into corners. Just like the early 2000s, there were a lot of LCD TVs and PDP TVs, and CRT TVs were shabby in the corner of home appliance stores.

The good momentum of sales of LED ceiling lamps is estimated to remain for some time, but LED ceiling lamps can hardly guarantee that they will not repeat the mistakes of LED bulbs. After all, special products less than 10,000 yen are now everywhere, and product competition among companies has become increasingly fierce. Moreover, I see that LED lighting and flat-panel TVs have similar development trajectory, I am afraid not only the author. In spite of this, while the market is still developing, companies may not be able to close their hands. But how to identify the situation and consider whether to close it?

From a global perspective, the popularity of LED lighting has only just begun. Although the supply of LED lighting fixtures and necessary components is expected to increase, it is estimated that it will be increasingly difficult to make profits through its profitability. Including the use of LED lighting services, only a large number of LED lighting can exist to realize the business may become a new hope, such as not selling lighting fixtures alone, but operating the entire room, the entire building, the entire city lighting control system . In addition, there should be other plans. I hope to continue to pay attention to the reports in the future.