LED era is still coming

A few days ago, Philips announced the introduction of the all-people LED light bulb, the lowest price is only 49 yuan. According to a survey conducted by the reporter, most brands have also launched LED products at similar prices, which have been recognized by consumers. However, compared with more than 10 yuan a brand of energy-saving lamps, the price is still the brand LED lights into the road of ordinary families. At the same time, the low-priced products of unknown brands flood the market, leaving even consumers who are eager to use to face difficulties in selection. Different from the previous argument that "LED lights will replace the energy-saving lamps within two or three years," the industry has stated that the promotion of LED home lighting in China will take some time, and that some enterprises that are caused by overcapacity will give "price change" to the industry. The industry has had a negative impact. The market is still at a stage of development. Consumers should pay more attention when choosing.

The price is still LED pain

A year ago, the reporter once conducted surveys in light fixture stores and small stores in the Shilihe area and found that LED bulb manufacturers were rarely seen by big names. In Schneider, Op and other brand authorized stores, sales are also unknown manufacturers of LED products. At that time, LED products produced by famous lighting brands were mainly LED desk lamps and LED tube lamps. In addition, the price difference between LED products is very large, 3W LED bulb prices range from 28 to 135 yuan.

Recently, the reporter revisited the market and found that the LED light source market has undergone major changes: not only brand manufacturers have introduced a variety of LED products, prices have dropped a lot. NVC, Op, Philips have all launched their own brand of LED products. The reporter also learned that the traditional lighting company Sanxiong Aurora has also actively deployed and comprehensively deployed the LED lighting market through various measures. From the price point of view, a 3W brand LED bulbs after the price is concentrated in the 45-60 yuan.

Although there is a lot of price reduction, compared to energy-saving lamps, the price is still a bit staggering. It is reported that the selling price of well-known brand energy-saving lamps is concentrated between 12 yuan and 28 yuan. In the same illuminance, the price of LED bulbs is equivalent to 3-5 times the price of energy-saving lamps. In response, many salespeople said that consumers do believe that LED lights are too expensive and ultimately choose energy-saving lamps. From the perspective of the placement of products, although LED lights have a special display area, but energy-saving lamps are still the protagonist of the sales display rack.

Unknown brands flood the market

Compared with last year's unknown brand lighting fixtures, compared to this year's market has added a lot of well-known lighting brands LED bulbs and other products, but it still seems to be with the unknown brand "courtesy of courtesy." In the brand stores, most of the sales are made by the brand's own LED products, but there are also two brand stores that sell on behalf of unknown brands whose sales prices are relatively low at around 10 yuan. "This is also a brand, just a brand that specializes in producing LED, so everyone is not familiar with it." Salesman explained. In the other four non-specialized stores visited by reporters, only one company sells Philips LED bulbs and candle lamps. Others sell LED lamps of unknown brands, and the prices are quite different.

This reporter learned that, as an example, a 2W LED bulb with unknown brand, the lowest price can be as low as 8 yuan. The salesman said, "If you buy more, you can still be a little cheaper." Compared with branded products, the price of each bulb lamp is 30-40 yuan lower. However, there are also sales staff to urge reporters to buy more expensive branded products. “You see these lights on this chandelier that I installed at the same time. The small brands have already been broken down. The brands are still good. Although they are expensive, the quality is very good.”

Industry claims

LED lamps are the development trend in lighting, LED has its unique advantages. Wang Xiaoying, secretary-general of the Beijing Institute of Illumination, told reporters that in terms of longevity, standard indicators for LED chips can reach 20,000-30,000 hours. The life of a typical bulb is 25,000 hours, and the lifetime of an energy-saving lamp is about 8000-10,000 hours. From the aspect of light efficiency, the brightness of the LED is high, and a typical 5.5 watt LED lamp is equivalent to a 70-80 watt incandescent lamp. In terms of environmental protection, compared with the hazards of mercury pollution in the later period of energy-saving lamps, LED lamps also contain harmful metals, but they are relatively easy to handle and are also more environmentally friendly. In addition, it is not easy to damage, durable, can withstand frequent switching, etc., are the characteristics of LED bulbs. In addition, LED lights can produce different color temperatures and colors, can be used in conjunction with home decoration style to create a different home atmosphere, including vase LED lights, ice wine lights, candle lights, etc. are all masters of home atmosphere creation.

At the same time, the government’s support for the LED industry cannot be ignored. In February of this year, the ministry's "Semiconductor Lighting Energy-saving Industry Plan" issued by the six ministries and commissions proposed that by 2015, all 60W incandescent lamps used in general lighting will be eliminated, the market share will drop below 10%, and energy efficient lamps and other traditional high-efficiency lighting products market The occupancy rate is stable at around 70%; the market share of LED functional lighting products is more than 20%. In this document, the government stated that it will "properly promote home lighting products." In response, Ai Xiaoming, chief executive of OSRAM (China) Lighting Co., Ltd., believes that under the conditions of government policy promotion, mature LED technology and prosperous lighting market, the development of domestic indoor lighting will take place from the traditional lighting to LED lighting. At the same time, it will show a significant upward trend in the next few years.

Confusion stems from the advantages of uneven development of the LED and the government's support for the LED industry has led the industry to issue "LED lighting applications are expected to erupt in the second half of 2013," and even "it will not take long, LED lamps will replace the energy-saving lamps," the optimistic tone. However, from the current product performance in the market, the outlook is not so optimistic.

From the price point of view, there are even 3-5 yuan bulbs on the LED lighting market, and the brand's cheapest products are also more than 30 yuan; in addition, a large number of unknown brand products flood the market. This confusion in the price system appears to be an imbalance in the development of the industry and a result of structural overcapacity. Philips Lighting Asia Pacific LED light source product market manager Lu Jinqing introduced, because the entry threshold is not high, all the spare parts can be purchased in the market, so the traditional lighting industry and electronics industry companies are entering the LED lighting industry. "The result of this is overcapacity, over-investment, and failure to sell some of the company's products. It is only at the expense of product quality in exchange for price cuts."

The absence of a systematic regulatory system also leaves many products on the market that do not meet the national standard. Philips had done sample analysis and found that some low-cost light bulbs cut corners in materials, and after 3-5 months of use, the lights would dim. "Purchased consumers are fooled. This is a detriment to the industry."

However, the market landscape will be rewritten. From Philips' point of view, lighting is a systems engineering, but also an applied science, involving brightness, light color, lighting experience and effects, requires a large number of application parameters, long-term application analysis and technical support, "not the components together On the line, it is not something that companies can do quickly and profitably.” Ai Xiaoming said that from the current market situation, the Chinese LED industry is experiencing rapid development. "As competition intensifies, some companies that are less competitive (low-cost, low-quality) will be merged or even eliminated. Enterprises with true technological connotation will stand out in the fierce competition."

High prices are still barriers to consumption At present, the price of branded LED light bulbs of RMB 30 and RMB 40 per head still deters many consumers. Although Philips introduced a low-cost all-round light bulb, it is only an "entry-based basic product," and it is only "a product that allows the majority of families to start contacting and using LEDs." Although Philips said that the sales of the family-friendly bulbs were better than expected, they also admitted that the current acceptance of first and second-tier cities is relatively high, and the price is still a constraint for promotion.

Ai Xiaoming also believes that although LED outdoor lighting and commercial lighting have been given priority in some markets, the most important reason for its low penetration rate in home lighting with the largest market potential is the high-end price of LED bulbs. And want to get a wide range of applications in the field of home lighting, "must find ways to reduce prices."

"The premise of price decline is healthy development, not sacrificing product quality." Lu Jinqing said that with the development of technology, production capacity and sales increase, the cost of LED light source will go down, the price will decline. This may be seen from the fact that all major brands have introduced products that have a good price for the people. Despite the price reduction, compared to other lighting products, "the current price of LED components is still relatively high, which has affected the popularity and acceptance of LED in the entire lighting market." Ai Xiaoming said. He also pointed out that e-commerce platforms with low channel costs and low development resistance are also becoming better choices for companies to expand the LED home market. “E-commerce channels are likely to have a huge boost in the development of LED home lighting products.”

In addition to the price, the lack of consumer awareness is also a problem that LED lighting companies need to face in their development. Lu Jinqing believes that LED is still in the stage of just entering the consumer's home and waiting for consumers to fully understand it. "Consumers' understanding of the performance characteristics of LED products is not comprehensive enough. It only focuses on energy conservation. It is still the main problem LED faces in this popularization phase."