Greater brightness, life span on flexible LED strips R&D agenda

Suppliers are looking to use higher-lumen diodes and alternative thermal management methods to improve product performance further.

Manufacturers of flexible LED strips in China aim for higher brightness and longer life span to boost competitiveness and take better advantage of accelerating adoption in outdoor and indoor lighting. They hope to increase the use of SMD diodes with individual luminous flux of more than 20 lumens. Although companies offer models with up to 24-lumen LEDs, most releases utilize those in 10 to 14 lumens.

To prolong product life span, companies are considering radiation in lieu of the conventional conduction thermal management technique. The former method entails applying radiation coating on the substrate to replace the silica gel pad for enhanced heat dissipation, which impacts diode operating life. The maximum that can be reached in the local selection based on conduction is 100,000 hours.

China makers continue to emphasize high reliability and stability as well. For all-weather installations, they turn out products with more than an IP65 rating. Units that are IP65-rated use epoxy resin filling and those with IP66, silicone tube. In IP68 models, both are employed.

Alongside product initiatives, companies stress capability to meet various customization needs as OEM and ODM projects remain their core business. Such orders represent 30 to 60 percent of their total shipments.

Overall driver is the global application market's increasing scale in coming years. The LED lighting industry is projected to have 20 to 30 percent sales growth from 2013 to 2020. By the end of the period, revenue will hit $86.3 billion, gaining for the technology 60 percent of the entire illumination market, according to McKinsey. The flexible LED lighting segment will have a parallel development, with estimates of up to 20 percent.

The same trend in China is happening and will continue to benefit manufacturers of flexible LED strips, which posted a 15 percent rise in sales in the past year.

To maintain momentum, suppliers such as Shenzhen Lelight Sign Co. Ltd are bolstering production. The maker increased output by 20 to 30 percent in 2015 and will do so again this year, especially as it targets 10 to 15 percent higher exports.

The flexible LED strips sector in China is still expanding, now boasting between 300 and 400 suppliers that gather in the coastal electronics hubs in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Zhejiang provinces. More than 60 percent of the companies are in the first two areas, mainly in the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong, and Xiamen.

Preferential policies are expected to bring in more players this year and intensify competition, especially for small workshops.

The current pool remains dominated by local enterprises. Besides flexible LED strips, companies turn out LED products such as rigid strips, diodes, modules and lights. The category's share of shipments varies from 20 to 80 percent.

Makers export between 20 and 80 percent of their flexible LED strips to Europe, the US and Asia. They note steady rise in deliveries to these destinations.

See a comparison table of flexible LED strips suppliers on GlobalSources.com