The dividend of the Lighting City is no longer: "It's like having a dream

The dividend of the Lighting City is no longer: "It's like having a dream"
Leaving the bustling shopping mall and trendy caf é center of Zhongshan, a 20 minute drive reveals the other side of the city: a large gray white small factory building with signs mostly reading 'XX Lighting'.

The company operated by Yang Hong and Yang Chang brothers is located in Henglan Town. The company produces products ranging from LED packaging, lamp bead mounting, hardware stamping workshops to finished product assembly. Its main products are stamped outdoor commercial lighting fixtures, such as street lamps. The main market of the products is the surrounding countries of the "the Belt and Road". These regions are vigorously developing infrastructure and are more sensitive to price, but have low requirements for design and function, and need cost-effective products.

Yang Hong was born in Macau and had a high paying job in a casino when he was young. At that time, I thought that even if I worked for another ten years, I wouldn't be able to afford a Ferrari. About ten years ago, he resigned from his job and returned to Zhongshan to take over his family's lighting factory.

But when he really started being a boss, he still gave up the idea of buying a luxury car. Most of the money earned by the factory is used to buy automation equipment, which has already cost him tens of millions.

Yang Hong laughed and said, "Porsche is parked in my workshop

Yang Hong returned home just in time for the popularization of Led Lights, and the tungsten filament and incandescent lights used in the past began to be replaced by more energy-efficient and efficient LED Light sources. He recalled the grand occasion at that time, around 2015: "Switching to LED Lights would immediately reduce the cost by 30%, and those who sold the lights would make money, and we would also have profits." He described it as a time when customers were everywhere, there were endless wine parties to attend, and a large number of people around him started businesses. He called on relatives and friends to become a company. During the golden period, a box of LED light beads was priced at 60000 to 70000 yuan. During holidays, when there was no one at home, the goods had to be stored in the safe at home.

But the good days are not long, and with the market's popularity comes a price war. In order to maintain the competitiveness of the factory, Yang Hong had to spend all his money on updating equipment, "and all the millions he earned in a short period of time were spent on buying equipment

LED lights are rapidly becoming popular, and the penetration rate of LED lighting products in China has grown from 32% in 2015 to 80% in 2021 in just six years. Product costs have rapidly declined in competition. For example, Yang Hong said that nowadays the price of a box of Lamp Beads is less than 1000 yuan, "it's like having a dream Price wars have always been a problem for local industries. The lighting industry in Zhongshan mainly produces mid to low-end lighting fixtures, with weak patent awareness and numerous early "copycat factories". The two brothers' company has reached a medium-sized scale, and the competition with their peers is still cost-effectiveness.

It is difficult to crush through technology because there is not too high a threshold, "Yang Hong quipped." Perhaps the lowest end of technology in electronic products is lighting. We also use IC chips, just power on and light them up. The lowest end of the IC is for us to use Wen Qidong, Executive Vice President and Chief Researcher of Guangya Lighting Research Institute, also pointed out this issue: "The Zhongshan lighting industry chain is very comprehensive, not only a manufacturing center but also a commercial center, with scale advantages. However, although the scale is large, the enterprises are very small, with poor risk resistance and limited core competitiveness