Held in San Diego, this year’s Light Fair International attracted 625 exhibitors from all over the world to ‘America’s Finest City’. While North American companies made up the majority of exhibitors, the trade show’s West Coast venue made it easier for Asian companies to attend, with a healthy 12% of exhibitors from Asia.

The show also appeared to have a different turnout compared to the Light+Building event held earlier in the year in Frankfurt, Germany. This included a higher proportion of small- and medium-sized companies, ensuring there was even more variety on display at the booths.

It was apparent that a variety of technologies/products on display could well be benefitting from our technologies covered in the EnabLED Licensing Program.

The following trends were in evidence at Light Fair, which are summarized below.

Industry consolidation

There is increasing consolidation in the industry, with exhibition booths shared by two or more companies. It represents a growth in joint collaborations between companies. Working together towards a common goal can be much more effective, sharing costs, combining expertise, and getting solutions to market quicker.

Digital lighting: Creative control and IoT enabler

Emphasis on integration and control was apparent. LEDs are being incorporated into broader ecosystems. This comes as no surprise as digital lighting provides a great platform for the growing Internet of Things. With lamp fixtures found in every room of a building, a network of LED bulbs is instantly available. Light then acts as the perfect data transfer medium – it requires only a simple mental shift to use light for communications and infrastructure.

High brightness LEDs: The new stars of stadiums

LED lighting for stadiums is becoming mainstream – among the first notable examples is the Vitality Stadium, home of English Premier League football club AFC Bournemouth. For niche players, this specialized market nonetheless promises to be a very successful one.

Stadiums need high power, high brightness lighting. LED lighting is becoming more viable for these applications because the engineering challenges such as reducing heat and improving robustness to ensure lower maintenance are now mostly addressed.

Solar LEDs see double!
 

We noticed an increasing number of solar LED companies at this year’s fair. Improving technologies and a brighter light capability are helping to make solar-powered LEDs more suitable for a variety of applications. Furthermore, costs are coming down while functionality is growing which also contributes to their uptake. Typical applications range from garden and pathway lighting to higher power street lamps requiring big solar panels.

In all trends mentioned above various products might be benefitting from our technologies as offered in the EnabLED licensing Program.