When Xi Jinping visited the Netherlands for the first time after taking office in March this year, he expressed the importance of energy conservation and emission reduction, emphasizing the target of reducing total energy consumption by at least 3.9% in 2014.
As the National Development and Reform Commission and six other ministries and commissions jointly released the "Semiconductor Lighting Energy-Saving Industry Plan", and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "China's Roadmap for Gradually Reducing Mercury Content in Fluorescent Lamps", from the central to local governments, from the provincial and ministerial levels to the city and county levels, more than ten semiconductor lighting-related policies have been intensively introduced. It is not difficult to see that almost all of these policies mention the promotion of LED street lights.
LED lighting is well in line with China's energy conservation and emission reduction policy goals. It is understood that wireless smart LED road lighting can achieve significant energy conservation and emission reduction effects, saving more than 30% of energy, reducing maintenance costs by 50%, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions and light pollution.
LED lights usher in the "spring" of the industry
The current situation of energy conservation and emission reduction is grim. Whether it is energy consumption per unit of GDP or energy consumption of the entire GDP, many indicators are under pressure. At the State Council’s work conference on energy conservation, emission reduction and climate change response on March 21, Premier Li Keqiang emphasized that hard measures must be used to complete the hard tasks of energy conservation and emission reduction. It can be seen that energy conservation and emission reduction have become the top priority of the government, and the government will provide strong support. As an emerging energy-saving industry, LED has ushered in the "spring" of the industry.
Judging from the first-quarter report cards of major LED manufacturers, CREE's first-quarter revenue increased by 16% year-on-year, and Philips' first-quarter LED product sales increased by 37% year-on-year. Alto Electronics' net profit nearly doubled in the first quarter. From the perspective of Taiwanese manufacturers, downstream packaging plants performed better than upstream chip plants. Among them, Everlight, Dongbei, Epistar, etc. saw an increase in their gross profit margins in the first quarter. Everlight's performance in the first quarter was better than last year's fourth quarter, and Dongbei's single-quarter profit is expected to hit an eight-quarter high.
Civil lighting is the largest market
Falling LED lighting prices, government policies, rising electricity costs, etc. are estimated to drive the penetration rate of LED lighting from about 20% in 2013 to about 44% in 2016. This trend will also drive the rapid growth of LED lighting output value. From 2013 to 2016, LED lighting output value will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 35%.
LED civil lighting may become the largest application market. As an important product for energy conservation and environmental protection, LED lighting has been continuously popularized and penetrated into the rural market. As the living standards of rural residents gradually improve, their demand for emerging products is also rising. It is conceivable that this is an attractive piece of cake for emerging industries.
However, some people in the industry believe that LED has conformed to the global trend of energy conservation and emission reduction, and coupled with government promotion, the industry is currently mainly concentrated in the field of outdoor lighting, with a low proportion in the civilian field.
But it is undeniable that LED lighting is rapidly shifting from government leadership to home users. With policy support, cost reductions and the global ban on incandescent lamps taking effect in batches in 2014, the LED lighting market is facing great development opportunities.
LEDinside predicts that the output value of LED lighting will reach US$17.8 billion in 2014, and the overall number of LED lighting products shipped will reach 1.32 billion units, a year-on-year increase of 68%. Faced with opportunities, LED companies, are you ready?
ANNA