China government updates LED subsidy announcement Siu Han,Taipei;Alex Wolfgram,DIGITIMES.China's Ministry of Science and Technology recently published development targets for the LED industry.The targets include nurturing 20-30 industry leading firms with core technologies before 2015,increasing the percentage of domestically-produced LED chips to 80%,as well as dropping costs of LED products to 1/5 of what they were in 2011.
The subsidy program also aims to develop and expand LED lighting from the years 2012-2014 and by 2015,have white LED lighting reach a luminous efficiency of 150-200 lm/W,which would match with international trends.The government will push to have LED lighting products make up 30%of the lighting market as well by 2015 and have the lighting promoted heavily in public and architectural lighting sector as well.
The announcement of the LED subsidy program,however,was originally supposed to be published on March 20,but has been delayed due to the high amount of firms competing.Industry sources noted there are strict guidelines the government is considering for choosing the final firms and that it is still restructuring the overall structure for the subsidies.
Sources also added Wu Ling,general secretary of China's Solid State Lighting Alliance,is coming to Taiwan in June,which will most likely push the final decision of subsidy distribution until June,causing LED growth not to develop as much as industry participants had hoped.
LED firms hope to be included in China's LED subsidy programPhoto:Siu Han,Digitimes,May 2012
