LED smart lighting market survey analysis: how to break through the development bottleneck

As an important part of smart homes, smart lighting devices are the most widely distributed in the room and involve the largest number of nodes, so they are favored by traditional lighting companies, creators and even the "Internet Plus" giants. However, intelligent lighting equipment does not simply include intelligent programs in lighting equipment as people generally think, but it should be a product with a complete system that takes into account both innovative technologies and practicality. However, in the investigation, it was found that there is still no breakthrough in the technology of smart lighting equipment currently on the market. It is still only a conceptual product.

Good policy

Smart lighting usher in spring

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Housing and Construction Commission, the Municipal Planning Commission, and the Municipal Municipal City Committee jointly issued the “Catalogue of Building Materials for Promotion, Limitation, and Prohibition of Use in Beijing”, which includes a number of incandescent lamps, including environmental protection, high energy consumption, and longevity. Short building materials are included in the prohibition of use. The industry believes that this is a good LED lighting industry. According to the “China Roadmap for Phase-out Incandescent Lamps” promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission, starting from October 1, 2016, China will ban the sale and import of incandescent lamps for general lighting of 15 watts or more.

Why do incandescent lamps need to be eliminated? It is understood that most incandescent lamps will convert 90% of their energy consumption into useless thermal energy, and less than 10% of their energy will be converted into light. As for the use of time, the life of the lamp usually does not exceed 1000 hours. According to calculations, China's lighting power consumption accounts for about 12% of total electricity consumption in society. If high-efficiency lighting products are used instead of incandescent lamps, there is a huge potential for energy conservation and emission reduction. In the home unit, if the lighting produced by a 60-watt incandescent bulb can roughly meet the needs of family life, then using an 11-watt energy-saving lamp can also meet the same demand. If it is replaced with a more high-tech LED lamp, then Only about 3.5 watts and a maximum of 4 watts are needed to meet the same requirements.

Industry insiders believe that the policy of eliminating incandescent lamps will bring a rare opportunity for the development of smart lighting industry using LED technology. On the one hand, the exit of incandescent light bulbs leaves a lot of market space for intelligent lighting; on the other hand, LED and smart lighting technology have made great progress in the past few years, not only in terms of cost, but also more affordable. These advantages are the basis for the development of the intelligent lighting industry.

In the online survey of 1,000 adult consumers in the United States completed by ONWorld, a global technology research company, in April 2015, about one-fifth of respondents stated that they will purchase smart LED bulbs within the next two years; by 2019, Global wireless smart lighting products will reach 400 million shipments, most of which are smart LED bulbs.

Development bottlenecks

Product is not practical

The consumer, Mr. Wu, is a smart product enthusiast. At the end of 2014, he ordered a smart light bulb of a certain brand on the Internet. The product can realize the 7-color transformation of lighting equipment, music playback and other functions through the smart remote controller. It also supports users. These functions are implemented through application software (APP) in the mobile device. “It just started to feel fun. I could control the light switch by lying on the sofa with my mobile phone. However, over time, it meant nothing. The key is not practical. The family is not a KTV. There is no need to change the lighting color. Music playback No use, poor sound quality, can only play some pre-set music." Mr. Wu told reporters that now spend more than 200 yuan to buy a smart light bulb became his 4-year-old son's toy, the family came to relatives and friends, The son opened the light bulb and gave it to others. Mr. Wu believes that pure smart lighting, if not integrated into the smart home system, is no different from ordinary LED lighting equipment and has no special practical value.

In Taobao's search for “Intelligent Lighting Products” as the key word, more than 6,000 items of product information have been obtained, but few of them are truly intelligent lighting products. Many are ordinary LED lighting or integrated lighting equipment.

Seen in a smart light bulb price of 179 yuan, the product uses Bluetooth 4.0 technology to achieve white light and RGB color light illumination, through the mobile device can adjust the brightness of the light bulb and play music. According to the reporter’s comments in the product, some consumers who purchased the product raised the following issues: The device’s application software is not very functional, and Bluetooth often loses connection during the connection process, causing control failure; Bluetooth connection distance Limited, if you live in a duplex structure, the user holding the mobile device on the second floor cannot connect the lighting equipment on the first floor via Bluetooth.

Intelligent lighting

Cannot be just a concept overlay

Today, the intelligent lighting industry is highly favored by traditional lighting companies, makers of developers, and even the “Internet+” giants with their huge development potential. In early 2015, Xiaomi teamed up with 13 lighting companies including Hongyan, Op, Philips and Mulinsen (002745) to create an intelligent lighting development alliance. They are expected to launch smart lighting products using Xiaomi's smart home wireless modules this year. Consumers who purchase these products can use their hardware devices such as Xiaomi’s mobile phone to control them, and build home smart lighting systems.

For the Lighting Development Alliance, people can simply understand: 13 lighting companies are responsible for the production of lamps, millet responsible for the manufacture of intelligent modules? In fact, it is not so simple. According to the reporter's understanding, although the general lighting equipment has a single function, it is widely applicable and can be used by anyone. The smart lighting products have certain limitations. They need to be controlled by mobile terminals such as mobile phones, and they must download the corresponding application software. This is not very convenient for the elderly and children. "To some extent, the introduction of this type of product is trying to combine the concept of "wisdom" or "control" with lighting products, rather than truly intelligent lighting or intelligent operation." Department of Light Source and Lighting Engineering, Fudan University Associate Professor Sun Yaojie said that the realization of using a mobile phone to control light switches, color correction, brightness adjustment, and playing sound is called intelligent lighting. This understanding is obviously a bit simple. In addition, controlling only the devices in the home through the mobile terminal also brings new problems. For example, what happens when the mobile phone is out of power? The user must first charge the mobile phone and then control other devices. So, in the process of mobile phone charging, is the home black? Therefore, simply superimposing the smart technology on the lighting equipment is not really intelligent lighting.

Sun Yaojie believes that the real smart home equipment should be aimed at all people, not just the products of the middle-aged and young people. These products should make it easy for all family members to use, and it is best to allow them to connect with hospitals, nursing homes and other special places.

One of the words

It's not as good as building a romance.

Judging from the various smart lighting devices currently available on the market, most of them are not innovative products, but merely improve the functions of ordinary LED lights, such as adding color light sources, music playback, and adjusting brightness, and then switching the traditional way of switching. Instead, control via a remote control or mobile device. The author believes that the use of remote control to switch TVs with the remote control, press the washing machine start key to make it work without distinction. Companies should be clear about designing smart lighting products. In the end, let's make the product automated or intelligent.

First of all, in terms of intelligence, the smart lighting equipment that people need is not the kind of automatic lighting mentioned above, but a more humanized product that can predict the demand in advance. So, what is the real intelligent lighting? Assume a bathroom, when there is no one, the light is off, and when the door is opened, the light is automatically on. This is the simplest intelligent lighting. For another example, under normal conditions, the underground parking lot is not well lit, and when a car comes in from the entrance, the lights in front of it will become strong; when the car passes, the lights will automatically dim, and no one needs to come. operating. For another example, the brightness of the conference room lighting can be changed in a timely manner according to people's discussion, playback of flashlights, etc... In the future, intelligent lighting has infinite imagination.

Second, in terms of practicality, there is a gap between current smart lighting and consumer expectations. The reason why voice-activated lamps can be used widely is because their functions are tailored to people's needs. For example, people can light up a lighting device simply by coughing or making a little noise. Therefore, the function of smart lighting equipment should also be fit with the reality of life, not just create a romantic.

The author believes that designing smart lighting equipment must be based on the user's perspective. In fact, the smart lighting products that users need are like taps, they can be opened and used, and they can be provided in the hope of omitting the tedious operations. All in all, the design of intelligent lighting products must not seek empty, "tall" gimmicks. Only by starting from the basic experience and letting the design be people-centered can we truly realize intelligence and be accepted by consumers.