It’s a great show and I say that not just because EdisonReport is a proud Media Partner of Light + Build, but it truly is a great show.
All the global companies exhibit as do the European companies and they come at all levels. The large multinational bring their CEO’s as well as their staff. I came with four goals: interview key CEO’s; learn about products and trends, network, and promote EdisonReport.eu. All four goals were achieved.
Below are the notes of interest:
- If you came for clarity regarding controls/communications, it was lacking. Rob Freitag of Halco, as well as two other senior level people stated their disappointment regarding the attention exhibitors did not place on this subject (with the exception of control companies.) One executive mused to me that he saw much more clarity on controls at Strategies in Light. However, SIL is designed as more of a discussion and Light + Building is more of a fair/tradeshow which focuses on selling product in the current year. We hope to learn more about the direction of controls at LIGHTFAIR.
- While this is my fourth L+B, I had never been to Hall 10 and there was a reason for that. In the US, we would politely call Hall 10 the “overseas companies.” Some appear very professional and quickly provide documentations to their claims and certifications. There is some great looking product, especially in highbay applications. We saw UFO-shaped highbays with 140 LPW . Your humble editor only speaks one language, Southern American, so I cannot criticize people who speak second and third languages. But one conversation in Hall 10 went like this:
Randy: “What chip do you use?”
Response: “Inventronics.”
Randy: “No, that cannot be. Which CHIP do you use?”
Response: “Ok, Ok, we use Meaning Well.”
Randy: “What driver do you use?”
Response: “We only use Cree?”
Randy: “No, DRIVER!”
Response: “OK, sometimes we use Samsung.”
- The Lumen per Dollar (LP$) prices we saw for high bays over 100 LPW, with certifications on-site, from companies that look and feel legitimate was absolutely staggering, to be more accurate, heart-breaking. The price drop is similar to what we have seen in the LED bulb market over the last two years. As a service to our industry, we are not publishing these LP$ prices as they only serve to undermine our industry. Let’s hope these guys are not exhibiting at LIGHTFAIR.
- If you like filament bulbs, they were everywhere: short ones, tall ones, slim ones, fat ones. We even saw one modular filament that can be plugged into various bases. There are still IP issues (which limits sales in the US) and we believe only four manufactures have a license on the IP.
- Nancy Clanton commented on the Artemide stand. “You have got to Artemide. They have these incredible dancers lighted from the fan. It’s just fun!”
- Joel Siegel of Edison Price said he saw a lot of great technology, but much of it is not available in the US. He went on to say that he would ask when things would be available in America and most of the time, he did not receive definitive answers.
- Ann Reo, SVP, Product Development at Soraa said, “Human Centric, Connected and Smart themes were Abundant at L+B 2016. Most Lighting Designers are still seeking ways to specify luminaires and control systems that employ these ideas. We need to see more synergistic solutions where Controls are vetted with Luminaires. I had hoped to see more of this. Loved the luminaire designs – LEDs are enabling super clean design trends.”
Heard on the floor:
- Much talk about the Future Electronics decision to also market Nichia. Future has carried Lumileds for as long as anyone can remember.
- There was much talk about Philips and Osram and their plans. We did confirm that the US Justice Department’s decision to halt the Go-Scale acquisition of Lumileds has to do with DoD concerns regarding epitaxy process.
- Forest Lighting parent, MLS, is in the best position for the OSRAM acquisition. OSRAM has renamed the business LEDvance.
- Flipchip technology is gaining ground, allowing for manufacturers to add the epitaxy process and then “flip” the chip—which is a significant cost reduction especially for small bulbs like the MR-16.