ASP for 40W equiv. and 60W equiv. LED bulbs dropped compared to last year, by 21 percent and 28 percent respectively, according to data by LEDinside. The decreasing LED bulb price trend is anticipated to continue in 2014.

Price rise most evident in Japan while China 60W bulb prices drop

Rise in bulb price was most evident in Japan for January, largely due to surge in prices for select items before the New Year, with 40W equiv. LED bulbs ASP rising around 5.1 percent and 13.6 percent for 60W equiv. LED bulbs. Panasonic 6.9W bulbs rose from US $5.5 to US $9 in December and Sharp’s omni-directional 10.4W bulbs increased substantially from US $21 to US $41. Japan introduced more new products during Jan. 2014. Mitsubishi Electric launched their 40W and 6.8W equiv. LED bulbs with luminous flux of 485 lm and 500 lm respectively, with a light angle up to 220 degrees. Toshiba’s new 6.6W bulb has a luminous flux of 485 lm.

In China bulb prices declined 16.2 percent for 60W equiv. LED bulbs in January, affected by large drop in price for sales promotion. Samsung 10.8W bulbs with a luminous flux of 810 lm decreased 50 percent in price from US $30 to US $15.

LEDinside observed that bulb price in South Korea is stabilizing with few price fluctuations. This is mainly because of control measures implemented by the Korean government to protect small businesses. As a result,Korean LED lighting manufacturers are smaller and lack channel and cost advantages that have made it more difficult to rapidly reduce prices.

Channel and brand establishment is key to future market competition

Although rise and fall in bulb prices varied across regions, with some seeing pricerises due to new products introduced on the market and New Year price adjustments. However, in general a clear LED bulb price decrease trend will be observed this year, said LEDinside. Global LED bulb ASP has dropped 20 percent from last year, leading to a rise in consumer acceptance. It has become increasingly difficult to create huge differences at this stage of the pricing competition so channel development and brand expansion will be the key in future market competition.