Types of LED lights and market analysis

LED lamp types

Category 1: LED energy-saving lamps made of straw-hat-shaped low-power LEDs, with a RC step-down circuit as the power supply. The straw-hat-shaped LEDs use the same packaging form as indicator LEDs, and the epoxy resin packaging prevents the LED chips from dissipating heat, resulting in serious light decay. Many white light LEDs, after a period of use, have a higher color temperature, gradually become bluish, and become dim. Some manufacturers are also committed to developing straw-hat-shaped LEDs with low light decay, but due to the lack of changes in the packaging form, the light decay has not changed much. This type of LED energy-saving lamp product is a transitional product with a low price and poor quality.

Category II (5050 SMD): LED energy-saving lamps made of 3528 or 5050 SMD medium-power LEDs. The power supply also generally adopts a RC step-down circuit. Some manufacturers also use a constant current circuit. Compared with straw-hat-shaped LEDs, SMD LEDs have slightly better heat dissipation. They have a thermally conductive substrate and, when combined with an aluminum substrate, can export some of the heat. However, due to the neglect of the heat of LEDs, many medium-power SMD LED energy-saving lamps do not have a heat sink and still use a plastic shell, and the light decay is still serious. The use of a low-end RC step-down power supply has a moderate price due to the unstable grid voltage, current fluctuations, and brightness fluctuations.

Category 3: LED energy-saving lamps made of high-power SMD LEDs, the power supply generally adopts a constant current isolation circuit, that is, there is a constant current, such as a 5W LED, usually uses 5 1-watt LED chips, connected in series, and powered by a constant current source of 300mA, a wide voltage power supply, so that when the power grid fluctuates, the current does not change, and the luminous flux, that is, the brightness, remains constant. 5 SMD LEDs are welded on an aluminum substrate, and the aluminum substrate is combined with a heat sink, so that the heat can be dissipated quickly and promptly, ensuring that the temperature of the LED chip is lower than the allowable junction temperature of the LED, thereby ensuring the true effective life of the LED energy-saving lamp. This type of LED lamp has a high price and good quality, and is also the development direction of LED energy-saving lamps.

LED energy-saving lamps have the advantages of small size, high light efficiency, long life, low power consumption, and easy use, and are favored by consumers. So far, LED energy-saving lamps have entered thousands of households, but the LED lighting market is not yet mature at this stage. The standards of various manufacturers are different, and the national standards for LED lighting fixtures have not yet been issued, which also restricts the healthy development of the LED lighting market.

Market Analysis

At present, the semiconductor lighting industry has formed a three-legged industry distribution and competition pattern dominated by the United States, Asia, and Europe. Cree and Lumileds in the United States, Nichia and Toyoda Gosei in Japan, and Osram in Germany monopolize the high-end product market.

The five major companies have their own characteristics in terms of products and markets. Nichia Chemical and Toyota Gosei occupy an important position in the development of LEDs and have formed a complete LED industry chain. Among them, Nichia Chemical was the first to produce blue light chips in 1994 and has a monopoly advantage in patented technology; Cree, GELCore and others have their own mature technology systems, but they only focus on epitaxy and chip preparation in the industry chain; Lumileds focuses on the research and development of high-power LEDs and is strong in the field of white light lighting.

The production capacity and technical capabilities of the new entrants will soon be on par with those of the LED veterans. Just as Taiwan is already the main production base for white LEDs outside of Japan, the United States, and Europe, it is also an important mass production base for blue LED chips. For example, some Taiwanese companies have developed 1700mcd high-brightness blue LED chips, and 1400mcd has also reached the shipment stage. Therefore, in terms of product output capacity and quality technology, it is no less than that of traditional LED manufacturers.