LED bulb retail price drops in March of 2013, 40W equiv. bulb price falls to $4 in the Chinese market

TAIWAN: According to LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce , in March, only several new LED lighting products were launched in the global market, and the price of existing products showed a steady decline. In the global market, 40W equiv. LED bulb retail price has dropped by 3.9 percent to $17.1, and 60W equiv. LED bulb average price has dropped by 6.5 percent to $24.1.

40W equiv. traditional incandescent bulb price drops to $4 in the global market
LEDinside indicated that in March of 2013, the retail price of 40W equiv. LED bulbs dropped by 3.9 percent to $17.1 in the global market. In the UK and Germany, 40W equivalent LED bulb price has dropped by 5.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, while the price of existing products continued to fall. In Japan, the average price of 40W equiv. bulbs has dropped by 4.5 percent and the existing product price has also showed a steady decline. Price declines in the above countries have also resulted from the increased exchange rate.

In March, the average price of 40W equiv. LED bulbs dropped by 5.1 percent in the US, 1.4 percent in Korea, 0.4 percent in Taiwan, and 2.3 percent in China ($10.8, the lowest among other countries). In addition, the lowest price has also declined further to $4.1.

Average price of 60W equiv. traditional incandescent bulbs drops steadily in each country
In March, the average price of 60W equiv. LED bulbs fell by 6.5 percent to $24.1 in the global market, 3.8 percent in Japan ($25.8), 1.4 percent in Korea (the price of existing products stayed flat; price decline was mainly caused by the increased exchange rate), 2.9 percent in the US (with a slight fluctuation in the existing product price and a lower new product price), 11.3 percent in the UK, and 3.5 percent in Germany.

Price decline in the UK and Germany was mainly caused by the steady decline in existing product price as well as the increased exchange rate.

In China, the price of 60W equiv. bulbs dropped by 15.5 percent to $17.1. The price of existing products remained flat, thus such price decline was mainly caused by the lower price of new products. In Taiwan, the price of 60W equiv. bulbs dropped by 6.4 percent to $13.9 in March. The slight decline of the existing product price and the increased exchange rate have both resulted in the price decline.

Facing fierce market competition, 40W LED bulb price drop more rapidly in the Chinese market
The price of China’s 40W equiv. bulbs still remained low. SunSunLighting’s 6.5W LED bulbs (450 lumen), for example, was quoted at $4.1 in March, which is currently the lowest in all statistical areas. Besides the UK and Germany, 40W LED bulb price in other statistical areas are all below $10. It is clear that 40W LED bulb price is lower in the Asian market than the European and US market.

On the other hand, the average price of 60W LED bulbs remained still in Japan, Korea, Europe, and the US. In China and Taiwan, however, 60W LED bulb average price has dropped due to other cheap local products. LEDinside believed that the usage and penetration rate of 40W equiv. bulbs was higher than that of 60W equiv. bulbs, thus the market competition was more intense, and price decline was more rapid.