Analysis of the status quo of the four major LED lighting industry regions in the world

With the depletion of global energy resources and rising surface temperatures, the awareness of energy saving and environmental protection of human beings has been gradually strengthened. The LED industry with energy-saving and environmental protection concepts is currently flourishing and flourishing in the world, so the LED industry seems to have become The saviors of the lighting industry in the world, in the confusion of the governments of Europe and the United States, seem to have found a way to rejuvenate the industry and improve the employment rate. The land in China is a nation-wide celebration, thinking that Chaoying has finally found the United States and created the world. A good opportunity for first-class technology, where the scientific and technological community and the lighting industry community are all busy calling for government funding, support and subsidy of the LED industry. They hope that overnight LED lighting will be replaced in any corner of the world and the global temperature will be reduced twice, especially in China's various industrial sectors are eager to squeeze into the LED lighting industry to get the so-called "big cake" of 500 billion U.S. dollars.

But is that true? Has our LED lighting technology been able to replace all light sources overnight? Let us take a closer look at the world level and domestic level of this industry.

First, Europe

Market: Due to the relatively mature awareness of environmental protection and energy saving of Europeans, the adoption of environmentally-friendly products is relatively high, and the relevant laws for the elimination of incandescent lamps first proposed by the European Union have been implemented. Various governments have launched applications for energy-saving lamps and LED lamps. The subsidy program (subsidy amounts to 30% to 55% of the product price), so in the global field, the application and promotion rate of LED lighting in the European market is relatively high, and supermarkets in some major European countries have already started. There are large quantities of LED bulbs and spotlights that sell below 10W. European lighting giants Philips and Osram have unveiled their application product series at the Frankfurt Lighting Fair in 2010 and started the construction and promotion of market channels.

Technology: Due to the different interests and starting points of different countries in EU countries when formulating unified standards, many systems and regulations have been delayed. Currently, European market access standards and technical thresholds are relatively loose. CE is targeting SSL. Most of the technical revisions of the draft are still referring to some of the technical requirements of traditional light sources and have not been substantially changed.

Enterprise: Philips and OSRAM, the European giants of traditional lighting, invested heavily in 2000 to begin research on basic technologies of LED lighting. OSRAM has always had a leading edge in the use of fluorescent materials for white LEDs, but Osram has been in recent years. In the market, the sale of its white light beads encapsulated in Indonesia has few types of promotion in general lighting products, and is mainly focused on the promotion of indoor bulb lamps and module-type lamps; and Philips carries its capital. With strong advantages, it first acquired lumileds and other technologically advantageous solutions companies in LED applications. After acquiring core technologies and related patents, the company tapped and sought out high-quality foundry companies to help him do OEM production in the Chinese mainland market. Severe standards and huge orders are the incentives for bait to maximize the profits of contracted OEMs.

Alternative analysis: Philips and OSRAM will promote the LED lighting industry in 2012. Prior to 2012, they will focus on the European and American markets. The two wolves will use Chinese OEM companies to enter the Asian market after 2012 and use Chinese applications. The accumulated experience in the field of technology allows them to make huge profits.

Second, the Americas

Market: As a result of the financial crisis, Americans are starting to pick up calculators to care more about their expenses. For LED lighting products whose price is higher than that of traditional lighting, the United States, which has always been generous, has been hesitant and wait-and-see, so it is temporarily in major markets and supermarkets. Still can not see the LED lighting applications on the shelves and large-scale promotion, and occasionally sporadic can only see some low-voltage flashlights and nightlights products. Technology: Americans are very strict in terms of market access. In addition to the Energy Star standard, the draft UL standard for solid-state light sources is also being developed and gradually introduced, along with other access standards are also gradually formulated and negotiated, although LED application products have been made popular by European and American chip companies, and they immediately rushed toward the global consumer market. However, due to the high cost and complexity of UL certification fees, the real launch of the LED solid state lighting market in the North American market is estimated. Will be after 2012.

Enterprise: A group of LED chip manufacturers, led by companies such as CREE, lumileds, bridLeux, etc., have seized the core technology of LED chips. The LED technology in the world has completely replaced conventional lighting. The world factory - China, quickly Start up the R&D and production of application products. Our U.S. market needs your products. On the one hand, they use profit margins of up to 70% to haul midstream and downstream application companies to purchase large quantities of their products. On the other hand, they also organize various associations or The coalition developed technical standards for products that they could not even meet. They used Chinese production companies as a testing ground for their immature technologies.

Alternative analysis: Americans in the LED field technology is second-rate, but the American business promotion tool is absolutely world-class, from CREE company to Nakamura from Japan to dig into the United States will be able to see, the Americans like a hungry tiger In the future LED industry, he will spare no effort to use his hegemony and market leadership to firmly control the high-end links of the industry chain, used to grab most of the cake of the so-called US$500 billion market.

Third, Asia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

Market: Ultra-bright LED blue light technology was developed by the Japanese in the 1980s, so the Japanese society has the highest enthusiasm for LED lighting applications in the world, so the Japanese market is very supportive of LED applications. In recent years, the government has strongly promoted plans to redeem points for LED products. The sales growth rate of LED products in the Japanese market has been far ahead of other countries. For South Korea and Taiwan, due to the more mature semiconductor manufacturing and R&D technologies, there are currently 70 worldwide. % of high-end LED chip manufacturing is completed in this area, and even Japan, Japan, Citizen, Osram, the United States bridgelux, semileds, etc. are almost all produced in Taiwan OEM.

Technology: Until now, Japan is still mastering the production technology of the highest brightness LED and the high-grade phosphor technology used in the packaging. However, due to the Japanese technology's technical blockade, the Chinese people will always receive second and third-rate technologies and products. , And the products produced using these technologies are always exposed to the risk of patent infringement claims by others. The South Korean government gave the country the power to support Samsung and LG and other companies to buy out global LED chips for backlighting, and artificially manufacture LED chips.

Enterprise: Enterprises involved in LED technology from upstream to packaging to application can be said that the largest companies in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are the largest, and only Japanese companies such as Nichia Japan, Toyota Synthetics, and Mitsubishi Chemicals have mastered first-class chips, Technologies such as phosphors and optical materials, Japan's Citizen, Sharp, South Korea’s Samsung, and LG have occupied the high-end market for packaged products, while dozens of companies such as Taiwan’s Jingyuan, Yiguang, Qili, and Lite-On have become the largest in the world. OEM base.

Alternative analysis: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have a good technical foundation and the government strongly promoted the application of the market, in the LED food cake, they will be like a group of cockroaches, closely follow the pace of the United States to cut the middle and high end of the industry profits, Second and third-rate products and technologies are thrown into the Chinese market. China wants to grab? Estimates are very difficult.

IV. Industrial Chain in Mainland China

At present, with the increase in pressure for energy conservation and emission reduction, the Chinese government has started various supporting policies and measures for the LED industry before and after 2007. Up to now, there have been more than 30 upstream and mid-to-low-end chip production enterprises that have reached or have reached scale. Most of the companies with medium- and low-end packaged products are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions, and their production capacity has taken up. 60% of the world's total production, while the downstream end-use products are even larger. It is estimated that there are nearly 3,000 LED packaging and application companies in Shenzhen alone.

With the further misunderstanding of government policies, the exuberant atmosphere of attracting investment from the Mainland, and the boost from large state-owned enterprises, listed companies, venture capitalists, and wealthy bosses, LED companies are now surging in strength and going forward to success. Careful attention will be paid to the fact that the so-called “largest” photovoltaic industry parks in the country and even in the world have had at least 50 places in the past two years. What's worse, even some cities and counties have declared that they will establish the world's largest photovoltaic industry. Park.

We can't predict the fate of these so-called "biggest" companies after five years. The worry is that this result will be deadly. The fierce price competition will not only result in a huge waste of manpower, materials, resources, land, and the end of a dilemma, but the ultimate winners will be easily defeated by international lighting giants or internationally. It is not known whether the LED industry is in the end to marry someone else.

Take Zhongshan Guzhen as an example: Although experienced the international financial crisis in 2008 led to the closure of the lighting industry in Guzhen, but due to the strong domestic low-end consumer market, the current town of Zhongshan is still in full swing, and the marketing momentum continues unabated. With the rapid development of the LED lighting industry, the ancient town seems to usher in a “spring” of great development. The local government has ambitions to organize various seminars and alliances with the National Semiconductor Corporation, hoping to use the semiconductor lighting to create a global LED lighting market and corporate clusters.

As everyone knows, the current popular phrase in ancient town enterprises is called "no best (quality), only the lowest (price)." Due to the country's delay in the introduction of uniform standards for related products and strict market access and supervision systems, the LED industry, which looks like a rising sun, has not been started yet. It has created a very bad impression in the minds of consumers, and has made it difficult for companies that really want to make good products and stick to technology and quality.

Alternative analysis: China's LED companies are currently like a group of small sheep rushing to eat on deserted grassland. They always think that the grass is big enough. They can eat enough if they can, but how long can this disorderly competition last? After fierce fighting, the result is that the international lighting giant has gradually swallowed up the name in the name of OEM or acquisition.

We call for industrial heroes and also yearn for the emergence of “miracle”. But these dreams must be established in a down-to-earth way to improve product quality and focus on talent cultivation. No matter where they go, companies that do not have brand awareness will not go for long. .