The coming year could be pivotal for the global LED industry, given the growing market share of Chinese LED companies throughout the value chain. In order to compete with international companies and maintain their growth, China vendors must overcome negative perceptions of product quality that continue to plague them, even while they maintain their low pricing, according to IHS.
Additionally, the market for cloud-based smart lighting is unlikely to gain market share in 2015, because public knowledge of companies offering solutions remains limited; however, increased marketing of cloud-based smart lighting could gain mindshare in 2015, positioning the market for future growth.
Changing fortunes for lighting companies is also expected in 2015. The reorganization of the top three lighting manufacturers could turn them into pure-play lighting companies focused on dynamic markets, which would offer greater growth potential. The restructuring will also allow LED makers to raise capital for further investment, and will also let them reduce the hierarchal burden associated with being part of a large conglomerate.
Li-Fi, a brighter way to communicate. Visual light communication (LI-Fi) is a new and emerging technology, but implementations of pilot projects, along with greater media interest, is forecast for 2015. Also, as quantum-dot LEDs (QD-LEDs) still have some challenges to overcome, the market will not likely to see vast quantities of commercially available products by 2015 or 2016; however, in the medium to longer term, QD-LEDs could kill off the OLED display market and cause deep disruption to the lighting industry as a whole.QD-LEDs still have some challenges to overcome, but we might see a very small amount of commercially available products by the end of 2015, said IHS.
Mass-market adoption of OLED lighting is not projected to occur in 2015, but retailers will likely start to offer a premium range of OLED luminaires, which undoubtedly will help create more interest in the overall OLED market in the coming year. Meanwhile, LED filament lamps, which combine the benefits of LED lamps with the familiar design of incandescent bulbs beloved by traditionalists, are now starting to match other LED offerings, in terms of efficiency, price and color-rendering capabilities.
Moreover in 2015 the packaged LED industry is moving downstream and getting smarter. Smart lighting is another way for companies to attempt to add value and improve profit margins. As the LED lighting market moves downstream with modules and light engines, incorporating smart lighting sensors and controls will be a key trend in 2015.
