No. 126: LED bulbs are increasing the share quite rapidly (August 8, 2010)

The spread of LED bulbs is accelerating in Japan. LED bulbs accounted for 19.7% of all sales of bulbs in July and expected to reach 20% in August this year. The share of LED bulbs exceeded 10% for the first time in March. That is, the share will double in six months. The biggest factor of this rapid spread is the decreasing prices and expanding lineups. The average price is now less than 3,000 yen, lower than 80% of the price early this year. LED bulbs accounted as much as for 64.2% in value in July. Incandescent bulbs decreased the share 10.2% to 56.6% in July on a year-on-year basis. Panasonic introduced an LED bulb that can be installed aslant on the ceiling. Sharp released an LED bulb about 85 grams apiece, about half the weight of the existing model to be use for chandeliers. Medium-sized producers are also increasing the presence in the market. They put LED bulbs for 2,300-2,500 yen apiece, and some of them sell them for less than 2,000 yen apiece.