How long can LED lasts? As product prices are reduced, are LEDs lifespan also becoming much shorter? Some in the LED industry have boldly stated: "A person only needs a single LED lamp through their entire life. But in this fast paced consumerism era, do we really need such long lasting products? This is an issue the LED industry has repeatedly encountered during its development, so should we not reconsider LEDs market positioning? Is one LED lamp per person that can last through a person's entire life span suitable for a consumer product like LED?"
For consumers if a LED lamp has 100,000 hours life span and can last more than 10 years with consumers rising living standards, would it be possible for them to resist changing lamps for several years? Is LEDs incredibly long life span adaptable to market demands? Or will LEDs longevity become a burden to consumers daily lives, forcing them into embarrassing situations of becoming outdated by not upgrading to LED lights or wasting money on LED retrofits?
As for manufacturers it will be a matter of survival if LED products have such long lifetimes. How can manufacturers survive? Even the biggest market will have its boundaries, from government markets to public markets, oversea markets, and civil markets. If the market cycle is too slow, it will only be a matter of time before oversupply issues emerge. Although, people have reasoned the current Chinese LED industry restructure is caused by an unstable industry, what will happen when the industry stabilizes? Under ideal conditions, if LEDs are truly as advertised products with long-lifespan, highly efficient and energy saving features, than it will only be a matter of time before the LED market becomes saturated and manufacturers are eliminated. Will slow product circulation concealed beneath these long-life products become a huge barrier to LED industry development?
Based on China's LED industry's conflicting pricing and product lifespans, several people in the industry have proposed: LED manufacturers should release various life span products according to different regions level of consumption to lower production costs and meet consumer demands. This strategy allows promotion of LED products in rural areas and other regions with lower level of consumption. However, city dwellers with high levels of consumption also are more demanding, and prefer new products but get tired of old ones easily. Lighting products are becoming FMCG products; highly priced products with long lifetimes are likely to go to waste on the market. Low pricing strategies are much more useful for manufacturers that want to quickly enter rural areas and other places with low consumer levels. However, these areas tend to have slow product replacement cycles, and the public will be unconvinced if LED products have shorter lifetimes due to lower prices.
