Philips expects rapid growth in LED-bulb market here
Philips Electronics (Thailand) expects sales of LED lighting products to grow sharply this year, with the segment becoming one of the main drivers of the Thai lighting market.
Thanakorn Wongwises, the company’s general manager for the lighting sector, said consumer demand for LED (light-emitting diode) lighting products was growing, partly because LED bulbs are more affordable.
He said LED-bulb sales last year accounted for 17 per cent (Bt1.81 billion) of the total light-bulb market of nearly Bt10.1 billion.
He expects the sales of LED bulbs to increase by 7 percentage points this year to 24 per cent, or Bt2.8 billion, of a forecast light-bulb market of Bt10.17 billion.
Thanakorn said the entire lighting market – bulbs and other products – was worth Bt24 billion last year.
Outpacing economic growth
Market growth used to be on a par with the country’s economic expansion, but the lighting sector has outpaced economic growth during the past few years thanks to higher sales of LED bulbs, he explained.
“The growth of the light-bulb market in Thailand is second only to that of Indonesia within Asean, and this market will continue to grow in the future because the Kingdom is the biggest producer of fluorescent light bulbs in the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Philips Electronics (Thailand) this year will spend Bt6 million on opening two more branches – in Chiang Mai and Pattaya – under the franchise name Philips Home Lighting Store.
This will bring the number of Philips Electronics dealers in the country to 11.
The company is also spending Bt10 million on a two-day Thai roadshow, which ends today.
