Large posters, prominent displays, explanatory panels, light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs, "ecological, economical", shine through their ubiquity in Japanese appliance stores, easily attracting the eyes of the customer. " Look, shouldn't we buy an LED lamp instead, they say it lasts longer? ", A Japanese woman in a consumer electronics store in central Tokyo asks her husband, manipulating, pensive , a compact fluorescent bulb that she was about to pay for. His attention was caught by the advertisements that stand in the aisles of this large specialized store.
Barely visible and sold for more than 75 euros each in Japan a few months ago, LED bulbs are now numerous and offered at half the price.
"The price decline is likely to continue," predicts the boss of Toshiba's lighting subsidiary, Shinichi Tsunekawa. This is mainly due to two reasons, confirms a seller of the Bic Camera brand in Tokyo. "On the one hand, technical progress has made it possible to reduce the costs of mass production, and on the other hand competition is sharpening with the arrival of new entrants who were not present in this lighting market but who come there armed with efficient technologies, ”he explains.
Japanese liquid crystal display (LCD) specialist Sharp is one of them. The person responsible for the plunge in prices, don't look, he's him. This summer, it launched a range of light bulbs based on its own (secret) technologies at a price twice lower than that of competing models then on the shelves, which is also doing better in terms of quality. Sharp had already announced a year earlier its entry into the LED lighting market for professional use. "We are concentrating our efforts on research and development of technologies and products that are good for the environment and health," explained a manager of this new activity at Sharp. The consumer offer followed, probably earlier than the competition thought.
"Sharp has also distinguished itself with its bulbs by solving a problem relating to LEDs which is that their light is directional. It was the first to succeed in homogenizing their distribution", adds the seller. In fact, Japanese LED bulbs, like the Dutch Philips, do not look like clusters of large LEDs covered with a glass globe, but have the aesthetics of traditional bulbs. They have more or less the same format. To achieve this result, Japanese manufacturers apparently use technical know-how which they have mastered well in other applications, for example in the backlighting of liquid crystal displays (LCD). Sharp however confides that the homogeneity obtained results in large part from the composition and the particular shape of the translucent cap. Impossible to know more, however. Toshiba is more talkative and agrees to open one of its bulbs: inside is housed a flat module covered with a layer of very small diodes, all resembling an integrated circuit. Equipped with standard bases, all these new bulbs can replace overnight on conventional sockets the energy-consuming incandescent lamps which heat more than they light.
However, the fact that said LED bulbs are now technically sophisticated and affordable is not enough, because they are still 40 times more expensive to buy than the filament models of yesteryear and 4 times more expensive than the most recent compact fluorescent lamps. They are in fact profitable only in the medium and long term, offering a decade of use at a rate of 10 hours per day while consuming up to eight times less electricity than the other models, even if they are labeled "low- consumption".
To convince consumers, Sharp also plays on the atmosphere. One of the new bulbs offered is sold with a remote control. The latter allows you to change the shade on seven levels of a gradient from orange to perfect white. It is also possible to adjust the brightness from 0 to 100% as desired. The same remote control can control all the bulbs in the same room within a radius of 5 meters.
In addition to Toshiba and Sharp, the Japanese electronics giant Panasonic is also trying to establish itself on this market by insisting on the ecological virtues of its new range (low consumption, long lifespan, reduced mass and less use of materials). Panasonic intends to be among those who will share the market considered very promising light emitting diode (LED) bulbs, while incandescent models with very poor performance will soon be banned from shops and those with fluorescent tube (compact fluorescent bulbs) suffer 'disadvantages to use (time required to reach maximum lighting). A firm affiliated with the Japanese electronics group Mitsubishi Electric is also in the ranks, as is NEC, which had to revise its initial projects in the light of these rapid changes to offer more competitive products than those it planned to launch. , an unforeseen event which notably led him to entrust production to a Chinese factory.
All these Japanese electronics groups do not limit their ambitions to the borders of Japan. It targets the global market and does not hide it. The Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, which manufactures both nuclear reactors and light bulbs, said Wednesday that it would expand its sales outside the archipelago. "We expect our new lighting systems division to generate sales of 2015 billion yen (2016 billion euros) in 350/2,6," said Toshiba deputy general manager Masashi Muromachi, at a press conference. This activity includes new LED bulbs, spotlights, floor or ceiling lights and other types of LED luminaires for professional use, as well as bare components and backlights for video screens or on-board lamps in vehicles. "We are setting up new structures in Europe (France, Great Britain, Germany) and North America to promote and sell these products there," added Mr. Muromachi.
The group, which is also studying dedicated commercial establishments in China, India, Russia and Brazil, hopes that at least 30% of its sales of “new lighting” will be from abroad by 2015. Currently, the Toshiba's lighting division, which claims 200 billion yen (1,5 billion euros) in sales this year, only achieves 3% outside of Japan.
LED lights currently represent only a tiny proportion (2-3%) of the total, but their share could climb to around 20% by 2012, especially since they can significantly contribute to reducing emissions. greenhouse gases. "Lit for 10 hours a day for 10 years, an LED bulb generates 187 kilograms of CO2, 84% less than an incandescent model that must also be changed several times in this period of time," insists Mr. Tsunekawa .
The new Japanese government has set itself the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% between 1990 and 2020 levels, which amounts to a drop of 30% compared to that of 2005, because in the meantime s an increase is produced. Households and small businesses are mainly responsible for Japan's difficulty in complying with the clauses of the Kyoto Protocol which requires Japan to reduce its emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by 6% between 1990 and 2012. Authorities are expected to lead by example, for example by replacing traffic light lamps or street lamps with LED equivalents. Large chain stores (Lawson and Seven Eleven convenience stores in particular), who want to save money in the long term and gain an image of responsibility, have started to replace LED lights for their signs, ceiling lights and ray lighting. If everyone got involved, the effect would be significant. Indeed, industries, offices, stores, parking lots and other indoor and outdoor professional and public places are responsible for 60% of the electricity consumption linked to total lighting in Japan.
Source (with photos): clubic.com