Rising LED Chip Prices Helped Stabilize LED Light Bulb Prices in August, Says TrendForce

The latest report from LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, finds that LED chip suppliers raised their prices in August, slowing down the price decline for end products. Thus, prices of LED light bulbs will be on a stable trend in the short term. 

“Compared with July, the global average sales price (ASP) of 40-watt equivalent LED light bulbs fell just 0.4% in August to US$9.4,” said LEDinside analyst Allen Yu. “The global ASP of 60-watt equivalent LED light bulbs also dropped 0.3% to US$12.8.”

Increase in LED chip prices propped up package prices

In China’s LED package market, prices of 2835 LEDs halted their slide in August. As prices of LED chips for standard packages were the first to go up, price increase is expected for standard and mid-power 2835 LEDs in the short term. Conversely, prices of mid-power 5630 LEDs fell in August because some international suppliers, including those based in the U.S. and South Korea, lowered their prices for these products. As for EMC 3030 LEDs, their prices on a steady slide in August on account of oversupply and increasing market competition.

“The price increase in standard LED chips during August will have a stabilizing effect on prices of chips used in other packages in the short term,” said Yu. “Hence, most package prices in China are going to remain constant even as package suppliers have lowered prices for a few products.”

LED light bulb prices stayed constant in August corresponding to the situation in upstream

In August, the ASP of 40-watt LED light bulbs fell 2% monthly in the U.K., representing the largest drop in the world market. Prices of some products in the U.K. showed steeper declines due to promotional activities. For instance, prices of 8-watt 470-lumen LED light bulbs from Philips Lighting fell by 16.2% on average in August versus the prior month. In Germany, the ASP of 40-watt equivalent LED light bulbs fell 1.1% monthly as just a few products saw modest price decline.

In China, the ASP fell 0.8% monthly because hardly any vendors cut prices to promote their products during August. Foshan Lighting lowered the price of its 7-watt 500-lumen light bulbs to US$2.81, down 12% from July. ASPs of 40-watt equivalent LED light bulbs in other regional markets remained steady in August.

Likewise, prices of 60-watt equivalent LED light bulbs in August were about the same as in July. The U.S. and the U.K. saw slightly larger monthly declines at 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. In the U.S., products that were on promotion include GE Lighting’s 11-watt 800-lumen LED light bulb, which fell 16% from July to US$6.53. As for the U.K., promoted products include Philips Lighting’s 9.5-watt 806-lumen LED light bulb, which arrived at US$8.88, down 23% monthly. Other regional markets were showing stable prices.