Just one day after Walmart announced working with GE to sell US$ 10 LED bulbs, the retailer has gotten even more aggressive in its push to make LED lights available to all. The retailer is launching a new line of in-house LED bulbs to be priced below US$ 9, according to the Verge report.
Not only will the bulbs be priced lower than Cree’s US$ 13 bulbs, Walmart’s new Great Value line will be including 26 bulb types for consumers to choose from. The retailer claims the bulbs can help consumers save more than US$ 134 over a lifetime of 800 lumens light bulb (equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent). The Verge report, however, noted lighting qualities differed greatly. The cheapest bulbs will cost US$ 8.88.
While Walmart’s low LED bulb prices may be good news to consumers and the promotion of environmental friendly LED lighting technology, it will pose new challenges to LED manufacturers, especially in terms of profitability. Manufacturers will need to formulate better business strategies to cope with Walmart’s cutthroat pricing strategies.
