As one of new industries, LED lighting business received a lot of attention worldwide, both from investors and customers. Capital swarmed into this area crazily. In 2010, domestic LED lighting industry investment was up to 217.9 billion yuan, far excess people’s expectations. Due to some characteristics of this area, many investors actually chose to start from LED downstream applications: low upfront investment, small size. That is the main reason why domestic LED SMEs dominated the LED downstream business in our country.
Presently, SMEs faced tremendous pressure, and even predicament. Compared with large G24 LED enterprises, who were continuously under support of government (subsidies and large lighting projects), most of domestic LED SMEs were kept out of government tenders and biddings. They also had to face up the matter of lacking technologies and capitals. How domestic LED SMEs to explore the road of growing?
In fact, the development of things has two sides. The current developing stage is a good time for distinguishing performance diversity, improving management and controlling costs. To some extent, small businesses usually have more adaptability than large companies in the face of new economic environments. They are more likely to survive. If entrepreneurs with self-motivation and crisis awareness can find right positions and directions during industry consolidations or shuffles, they could seize opportunities even with limited resources.
Because of lacking of market resources, SMEs should invest attentively and professionally. Blind investment to some unfamiliar area is really dangerous for them. Large enterprises have enough confidence and capital to involve into multiple areas. Emerging markets with full potentials were usually their targets. But SMEs should at first keep their core technologies or core economic strategies. How to survive is more important for them. They must minimize the risk at each step.
Meanwhile, they should take the path of specialization and diversification, including increasing product cost-effective, improving product qualities, increase added-values, developing new products to meet the demand of market. Diversification or differentiation is another import factor. In order to survive, small companies need to form their own characteristics in a particular area, developing their own products or technologies: companies concentrate on green-ray LED chips, companies focus on special lighting applications, like plants and agricultural lighting, freezer lighting and so on.