▲LEDVANCE's exhibition booth at the '2018 Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition' (Photo=Jung-Bae Kim) © World Lighting News

 

●Written by : Jung-Bae Kim. Publisher & Editor. Lighting Critic.

All companies have one common goal. It means'to survive' in any case and in any

situation. For companies, survival is everything. No matter how good the technology is,

how good the product is, and how popular it is in the market, it's useless once a company is destroyed.
 

But now, the survival of lighting companies around the world is in extreme danger. Then, how can lighting companies survive? Let's find out how to do that through concrete

examples.
 

LEDVANCE, which started two years ago with the “LED lamp” business sold by OSRAM
Rising as the top 10 lighting company in Europe in just 2 years, the world's top 10 is in

front of you. The secret of advancement is having three expertise in lighting business,

management and investment.
 

In this world, where is the most'unthinkable' happening? Different people may have

different answers to this question. But one thing is for sure: "The world of business" is just that.

 

Like this, 'the world of business' is a place where'unthinkable things' frequently occur. A

representative example of this is the case in which ‘companies that are going to ruin’

reappear as strong companies that lead the industry by succeeding in ‘before-seen’ after

the CEO changes or after being sold to another company. For example, Japanese

‘Panasonic’ or ‘JAL’ are examples.

 

◆ Unexpected advancement of LEDVANCE

This also happens in the global lighting industry. One of those things is LEDVANCE. LEDVANCE was originally the “lamp division” of OSRAM, a global lighting company. OSRAM

decided to separate the lamp business, spin it off in 2016 and sell it to a Chinese

investment consortium in July 2016. The sale was completed in March 2017.

 

At this time, LEDVANCE was purchased ▲Investor IDG Capital Partners (IDG) ▲Chinese

lighting company MLS Co., Ltd. (MLS) ▲It is a Chinese consortium composed of financial

investment firm Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center (Yiwu).

 

The perspectives of looking at LEDVANCE, which started like this, were varied. Some

people questioned, "Why did OSRAM spin-off LEDVANCE and eventually sell it?" and

came up with a prospect that "the future of LEDVANCE will not be smooth."

 

However, two years have passed since then, and LEDVANCE has been cruising beyond

what some expected. The most remarkable thing is that in the meantime, LEDVANCE has grown into the top 10 lighting company in Europe.

 

In addition, LEDVANCE is about to enter the world's top 10 lighting company. Last year,

LEDVANCE is reported to have achieved sales of about 1.9 billion Euros.

 

The movement of LEDVANCE was revealed through'Light+Building 2018 (2018 Frankfurt

International Lighting Exhibition)' held in Frankfurt, Germany in March and the '23rd Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition 2018' held in Guangzhou, China in June.

 

'Light+Building 2018' and '2018 Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition' were the two most important exhibitions of all lighting exhibitions held in the first half of this year. In t

hese two exhibitions, LEDVANCE showed a different look from when it was launched.

 

That is, it is completely moving away from the business portfolio centered on 'LED lamps', which was its flagship product at the beginning of its launch, as a'comprehensive lighting company'

 

◆ Transformed from a “LED lamp” company to a “general lighting company”

 

 

 

 

 

Of particular interest is the fact that it has a clear product supply structure from light

sources (lamps), finished products (light fixtures), and lighting control systems in all

lighting fields such as houses, offices, shops, and outdoors.

 

This shows that even though LEDVANCE was launched based on the “lamp business,” it

will no longer remain as a “lamp company”. However, this transformation of a “LED lamp

specialist” is already becoming common.

 

For example,'LUXRAM', a large-scale LED lamp manufacturer in China, also exhibited

finished products (lighting equipment) in all lighting fields such as houses, stores, offices, and roads, as well as LED lamps at this year's'Guangzhou International Lighting

Exhibition'. 
 

Considering this trend, it would be a natural thing for Red Vance to try to transform itself into a general lighting company that produces and supplies all lighting products in all

fields out of the limit of 'LED lamps'.

 

These recent trends of Red Vance can be positively evaluated. This is because it is a kind

of “success story” in which the company was further raised by taking over a business or

business that was sold by another company.

 

If LEDVANCE which was handed over from OSRAM, was said to have shrunk as the

business continued to rise and fall, it means that it would have been evaluated as a

“definite loss” from the perspective of the global lighting industry.

 

However, what is really important is "How was it possible?" Is to do. This is because it is

not too much to say that the story of LedVance's spin-off from OSRAM and its sale to

some extent implied the meaning of “selling out a business unit without vision”. If so, it

can be said that Led Vance took over a business with an uncertain prospect and used it as a "opportunity for a turnaround."

 

From this point of view, what was the basis for the growth that Led Vance has seen over

the past two years? First, the investment consortium that acquired Ledvance was a combination of lighting manufacturers and capital investors.

 

MLS, one of the investment consortiums, is an LED chip maker that has grown rapidly.

Therefore, it can be said that it has secured expertise in the lighting business. The other

two investors, IDG and Yiwu, are experts in the field of investment and finance. It is a

combination between a typical manufacturer and an investment company.

 

This business combination has the advantage of being quick and accurate in analyzing

and responding to market trends. And you can have much more expertise in terms of

investment, management, management, and marketing than when a company that used

to be solely in the lighting business took over the business.
 

These points are believed to have had a very positive effect on Red Vance's reorientation of business, investment and market expansion. In other words, the combination of the

three elements of the lighting business, management, and investment is the real reason

that LEDVANCE was able to advance.

 

◆ It is necessary to secure three factors

 

The example of LedVance like this provides insights into “what is really important and truly competent in the future?” to lighting companies that are fiercely competing in the global

lighting industry and lighting market.

 

It is the'three specialties' such as ▲excellent expertise in lighting business ▲management expertise ▲specialty in securing investors. Here,'professionality' means'competitiveness'.

 

All lighting companies in this world started out as simple “manufacturers”. There was

hardly any part such as securing funds through management or investors. It was almost all of the manufacturer's expectations or instincts that only "make good products and sell

them".

 

But like this, 'the era when manufacturing alone could survive' is already over. Competition intensified as many companies flocked to the lighting industry and lighting market, and in order to survive such fierce competition or to grow faster and more than others, “plus alpha” was needed in addition to lighting capabilities. LEDVANCE is showing us what that

“plus alpha” is.
 
Of course, only two years have passed since the launch of LEDVANCE. And competition in the world's lighting industry and lighting market is getting fiercer, and it is very difficult

now to accurately predict which direction to go or who will be the final winner in this

competition.

 
However, regardless of the future success of LEDVANCE, it has become clear what

capabilities and competitiveness all lighting companies in the world must have in order to join the world's top 10 lighting companies or the world's first group of lighting

companies.

 

It is a solid investor who can provide you with expertise in the lighting business, excellent management skills, and funding for your business. In the future, the company that will

lead and dominate the global lighting industry and lighting market will be a company that has all three, faster than others, and more.

 

 

<Copyright ⓒ World Lighting News>
Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited. 

기사 내용과 관련이 없는 글, 욕설을 사용하는 등 타인의 명예를 훼손하는 글은 관리자에 의해 예고없이 임의 삭제될 수 있으므로 주의하시기 바랍니다. 댓글 작성 시 상대방에 대한 배려와 책임을 담아주세요.

• 닉네임
• 비밀번호
• 
• 도배방지 입력