Infrastructure Boom Turns Southeast Asia into a Goldmine for LED Lighting Vendors, TrendForce Says

LED lighting markets in Europe, the US, and Japan have gradually matured, and China is also entering a period of intense competitions over pricing and scale. With the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community, LED vendors’ attention on the emerging markets in Southeast Asia has grown over the years. According to a recent estimation made by LEDinside, a division of Trendforce, the lighting markets of the six major Southeast Asia countries – Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Philippines – had a combined value of US$4.5 billion in 2014. Out of that amount, around US$1.1 billion came from the LED lighting market. The growing infrastructure needs within the countries of Southeast Asia are expected to bring great demands for LED lighting as well. 

LED lighting market grows rapidly and its market penetration rate to exceed 30% by 2015 

Terri Wang, an analyst for LEDinside, said that Southeast Asia’s LED lighting market had the fastest pace of growth in 2013 with a year-on-year increase of 63%. Though growth lagged during the 2014-2015 period, the rate was kept at 30% and above. Also, the market penetration rate of LED lighting in Southeast Asia has risen with each passing year and at an accelerating speed. Overall, the market penetration rate of LED lighting in the region is projected to grow from 12% to 32% within 2012-2015. 

Among the major countries, Singapore’s lighting market demand is highly saturated and its traditional lighting segment is shrinking. As a result, Singapore’s lighting market on the whole has seen a scale reduction in the recent years. This downward trend is likely to continue in 2015. However, the scale of the LED lighting segment is still growing. Besides Singapore, other countries in the region have experienced overall positive growths in their lighting markets during the same period. As a general decline set on these markets’ traditional lighting segment, LED lighting has become the main growth driver. Indonesia in particular leads in the general lighting’s market size as well as LED lighting’s. Based on LEDinside’s estimation, Indonesia’s general lighting market in 2014 would be valued at US$320 million. 

Bullish Southeast Asia to become the main export destination for Chinese vendors 

Southeast Asia has seen strong growths in the LED market in the past few years and the rate of replacement for traditional lighting has also increased. Since countries in the region have weak local manufacturing capabilities and rely on imports, the growing demands for LED lighting can also create huge import demands. The scale of imports from China will therefore multiply because of China’s advantages in manufacturing capabilities, geographical proximity, and product pricings. Wang expects positive policies and rising replacement demands will speed up the growths of Southeast Asia’s LED market penetration rate and LED imports. Furthermore, the region will eventually become the major export destination for Chinese LED vendors. Hence, vendors should accordingly direct their market development efforts to the area.