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Philips Finally Launches First Mainstream LED Light

Finally it is time for us to experience a new alternative lighting from Philips. Philips has managed to launch its first mainstream LED lighting product this week, a down light for recessed lighting being marketed as the Calculite line.

The line is expected to generate $20 million in sales in 2009 in the U.S. alone, said Zia Eftekhar, the CEO of Philips Lightolier, the division of the company overseeing the product.

The significance is that Philips, the world's No. 1 lightbulb maker, has shown confidence that the price of LEDs has now dropped enough to make the most technologically advanced lighting sector into one that’s affordable.

The product, launching across the globe this week, is being sold with a five-year warranty—notable because it’s beyond the one- or two-year warranty that most LED makers offer, Eftekhar said. The significance of the five-year warranty is that Philips is guaranteeing the LED and components to last for 50,000 hours. Philips says its Calculite LEDs are 80 percent more efficient than incandescent lighting, and 40 percent more than compact fluorescent bulbs.

[CleanTech]