LEDinside: 2011-2015 Chinese LED Lighting Market Report: Street Lamp Market Analysis

In the past, traditional street lamps were primarily HID lamps and mercury lamps. However, due to disadvantages such as lumen decay, high power consumption and short lifespan, traditional light sources are no longer in line with the global energy-saving trend. LED quickly made its way into street lighting due to several factors, including carbon emission reduction policies enforced worldwide and improved luminous efficacy LED light sources (a total luminous efficacy of over 100–130 Lm/W and an application luminous efficacy of over 50 Lm/W), as commercial opportunities presented themselves.

The “10,000 Lamps in 10 Cities” program has been changed to “2 Million Lamps in 50 Cities” in order to further expand the application of LED street lamps. China has the largest domestic market demand in the world. Although the Chinese government considers the Chinese street light application market as the priority market for Chinese LED industry development, there is still a long way to go before LED street lamps reach wide adoption. Given that LED street lamps are large-size luminaires, long, practical tests and well-established standards should precede the launch of a large-scale promotion. Moreover, it is almost time to inspect the results of the LED street lamps instituted from 2009 to 2011 for demonstration. If the results and benefits meet the expectations, it will strengthen Chinese government’s faith in popularizing the LED street lamps in first-tier cities, which will be a crucial breakthrough for LED applications.

LEDinside, a research division of TrendForce, believes that LED street lamps will most likely see the fastest growth rate in 2012. In 2009, the Chinese government planned and implemented LED street lamp installation programs in 21 cities, aiming to set up one million LED street lamps. However, surveys showed that the actual number of LED street lamps installed in 2009 was less than 20% of the planned quantity, falling vastly short of targets. As for the “2 Million Lamps in 50 Cities” program implemented from 2010 to 2012, a rough estimate suggests that the number of installed LED street lamps reaches about 150,000~200,000 as of July, 2011.

Figure 1: 2010 Chinese LED Street Light Manufacturer's Shipment Ratio

Source: LEDinside

For more information on the 2011-2015 trends and market outlook for the Chinese LED lighting market, please refer to LEDinside's “Chinese LED Lighting Market Report in 2011—2015”, including relevant data updated through August, 2011.