Prices of mainstream packaged LED products in China were generally stable in December, with no obvious fluctuation in either the high-power or mid-power segments, but prices are expected to fall in first-quarter 2018, reports LEDinside (a division of TrendForce).
The major suppliers in China have successively reduced the prices of their LED chips over the past few months, but prices of packaged LED products have not been immediately lowered due to the long purchase cycle, notes analyst Terri Wang. Although some authorized agents of packaged LED products have reduced prices for certain orders, the average price in the market did not see obvious fluctuations in December.
As prices remain stable, suppliers keep upgrading product performance, and are focusing development on higher-growth segments such as industrial lighting and outdoor lighting. For example, Cree has launched a new extreme-density high-power LED, which delivers a lumen density of more than 284lm/mm2.
In addition, Chinese manufacturers have expanded their business to the automotive lighting market through investment and acquisition. For example, CEC-Kaistar has obtained chip and phosphor patents through the acquisition of Bridgelux and Intematix. Kaistar has also invested in automotive lighting modules and hence completed the vertical integration from LED wafer through to automotive lighting modules, entering the automotive optoelectronics market.
