Taiwan market: Local vendors cut LED light bulb prices

In the wake of Philips' lowering retail prices for a 6.5W LED light bulb from NT$249 (US$7.60) to NT$169 in the Taiwan market, several Taiwan-based vendors have followed suit, for example Leotek Electronics and Ritek have reduced prices for a 7-8W LED light bulb to NT$99.

Prices below NT$100 for a LED light bulb actually leave no profit for vendors, the sources said. As a result, some Taiwan-based vendors are reportedly planning to quit the market, the sources indicated.

In addition to Philips, US-based LED lighting vendor Technical Consumer Products (TCP) has entered the Taiwan market, offering an average price of about NT$100 for an 8W bulb, the sources said.

While price cuts have been targeted toward 6-8W LED bulbs with brightness of about 650lm, mainstream LED light bulbs in the Taiwan market are models above 10W with brightness of 1,000-1,300lm, the sources indicated. Therefore, price-cut competition focusing on 12W or 13W is expected to be triggered in the second half of 2015, the sources said.

Due to lower than expected demand, 2015 LED light bulb sales in the Taiwan market will decrease from an original forecast of five million to 4.3 million units, the sources noted.