Technical and Market Developments in China's Professional Lighting Industry
In an excellent environment underpinned by the unprecedented boom in China's entertainment industry, the application scope for professional lighting products has been greatly expanded. According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 3000 medium scale theatrical performances held in nationwide cities in 2006. As 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 Shanghai World Exhibition and Guangzhou Asian Games approaching, the number is expected to surge further. Benefited from the growing social and economic situation, the cultural and entertainment spending by residents in all levels of cities, especially large and medium cities, continues to increase. Thus in the next 5 years, demand in the professional lighting industry in China should remain robust, creating a whole new opportunity for a great leap forward of the industry. At present, the professional lighting industry, led by Guangdong region, exhibits weaknesses such as confusing structures, mixed qualities and weak competitiveness, but the situation is expected to turn around in the next few years due to the growth opportunities ahead. Market development status and trends HC Industry Research data showed that, currently Guangdong Province region has the nation's largest professional lighting industry cluster, representing 80% of total annual production and sales in China. This region has formed a relatively complete industry chain, consisting of raw material suppliers, OEM factories, distributors and project contractors. There are also a handful of producers scattered around the costal areas of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. Looking forward, the industry cluster in Guangdong will lead to more internal restructuring, leading to reduced number of producers and hence higher industry concentration.
Analysis of favourable and unfavourable factors Similar to the professional audio equipment industry, the professional lighting industry in the next few years should experience strong market demand. The favourable and unfavourable factors impacting the development of professional audio equipment industry could also apply to the lighting industry, and they share similar development objectives. First is achieving technological and brand breakthroughs. Second is expanding the coverage and recognition of their applications in domestic engineering projects. Third is winning better status and market shares when participating in the international market competition.
Technological developments and trends The use of computer technology in professional lighting control systems has significantly improved the useability of lighting products. As computer technologies continue upgrading and progressing, professional lighting control systems are gradually evolving from analogue to digital stage and networking stage. In the networking stage, lighting systems in large theatres and performance halls will contain thousands of control circuits, at the same time involving control stations for light adjusting, computer lighting and colour switching. These are impossible to be synchronized under manual controls. But with networking, many control stations and other lighting equipment can be connected via the same network hardware, and with appropriate network software, the whole control system can be precisely functioning according to standards. There have been overseas experiments to introduce internet management technologies to lighting control systems, and the associated internet protocols and standards should be completed soon. An evolution in lighting control technologies and concepts is already under way. In recent years, LED (light-emitting diode) display technology has been frequently featured in large-scale theatrical performances. Many of them are currently in the form of lighting effects and screen displays. As LED manufacturing techniques are improving and new materials are being developed, there have been breakthroughs in ultra-bright LED with various colours. As a result, the application of LED lighting instruments in professional lighting industry will further expand, from the present decorative devices and effect lighting to comprehensive lighting equipment. The commercialisation of new lighting sources using high performance LED, on both the materials and technological levels, will be a huge driving force for the professional lighting industry. |
