Lin said the trend will continue and Phillips is now becoming more aggressive in the consumer luminaries market, where a growing number of middle class Chinese are pushing demand for value-added efficient lighting products.

He said the company has opened five consumer luminaries brand stores in Shanghai, in which 90 percent of products on the shelves are energy-saving devices.

It is also working actively on expanding its presence in second and third tier cites, with the goal of doubling its sales of consumer luminaries each year and opening more than 1,000 brand stores over the next five years.

Lighting will undergo an "absolute revolution," over the next 10 years, just like the ones seen in the consumer electronics or information technology industries, according to Rudy Provoost, Executive Vice-President and CEO of Philips Lighting.

"I can see in lighting, over the next 5 to 10 years, there will be some dramatic shifts, where complete categories could shift from incandescent lamps to energy-efficient lighting sources and from traditional technologies to solid state, or LED (light-emitting diode) lighting," said Provoost.

LEDs have lower energy consumption, a longer lifetime, are more robust, are smaller and are easier to switch than traditional size, although they cost ten times more.

Positioning LED as the next stage of the company's lighting business, Provoost said he expects there will be more examples of "a mix of technology" in which LED is used.

He also underscored the importance of government support in the bid to reduce energy consumption in general by raising green standards.

"It means not only setting aggressive standards that all the market players must live up to, but also that the authorities reward or penalize companies who do not live up to these standards," he said.

"It really needs concerted efforts, and the government has an important role to play," he added.

(China Daily May 18, 2009)