As all incandescent bulbs will be banned by the end of 2012 in Japan, and the Energy Act Amendment will go into effect in the first quarter of 2010, many public places in Japan are likely to gradually switch to LED lighting. In response, Japan’s five major electronics companies such as Sharp, Toshiba, NEC Lighting, Mitsubishi and Panasonic are all ready to enter the promising market.

Panasonic has recently introduced EVERLEDS, a LED lighting bulb range designed for home use. The bulbs are scheduled to be available on the market in October, marking a significant step towards the popularization of LED lighting in Japanese households. Meanwhile, both NEC and Mitsubishi plan to release LED lighting products in late September. According to Panasonic, it estimates a 50 thousand monthly output of LED bulbs, representing less than 10 per cent of its total revenue. And this rate is expected to rise to 25% by 2012. In the future, the company aims to expand to the European and U.S. LED markets.

Currently, Europe, the U.S. and some Asian areas are speeding promotion of LED lighting to replace traditional incandescent bulbs. Meanwhile, major global lighting suppliers are all releasing LED lighting products in succession. Therefore, the popularization of LED lighting should be expected in the near future.