2025 Lighting Market: Domestic Exports Hit $11.8B

In 2025, the lighting industry faces dual challenges of sluggish domestic demand and shrinking international demand, with significantly increasing pressure for transformation. According to relevant data, from January to February 2025, core indicators of China’s lighting industry signaled "warning signs": the CNLIGHTING Industry Prosperity Index and revenue prosperity index both fell into the "cooling zone," reflecting insufficient overall industry activity, while the profit prosperity index plunged into the "overcooled zone," with a year-on-year decline of 36 percentage points in February alone. The export market also cooled, with China’s total lighting product exports in Q1 2025 dropping approximately 8% year-on-year to around $11.8 billion. Despite this challenging environment, some companies are actively seeking new growth opportunities, with age-adapted lighting emerging as a critical development direction.

As China enters a phase of deep aging, age-adapted lighting has become a new growth driver for the industry. The 2025–2030 Global and China Lighting Industry Market Research and Development Prospects Analysis Report reveals that by 2024, China’s population aged 60 and above exceeded 300 million for the first time, accounting for 22% of the total population, while those aged 65 and above reached 220 million (15.6%). This demographic shift has spurred new market demands. In January 2024, the State Council issued China’s first policy document explicitly targeting the "silver economy," officially endorsing a trillion-yuan market and highlighting the consumption power and needs of 300 million seniors. Innovating age-adapted products is not solely about market size or profitability but also reflects a commitment to consumer-centric service. For instance, a global lighting leader launched the Philips LumCare AnRui Series Solution on April 22, 2025, marking its entry into this sector. The company emphasized this as an initial step, with further efforts underway, including applications for Shanghai’s age-adapted product subsidies.

The wave of intelligence is sweeping the lighting sector, with smart lighting gradually replacing traditional products and evolving into integrated solutions. The combination of AI + ToF (Time-of-Flight) is hailed as the "golden duo" in smart sensing, enabling machines to "understand 3D space" through ToF sensors and AI algorithms. This technology is redefining interactions and functional boundaries in industries like smartphones, automotive, and home appliances. In lighting, companies are adopting cross-sector innovations. For example, the Philips LumCare AnRui Series integrates an AI Smart Core, combining ToF sensors and 24G radar AI algorithms to monitor falls among the elderly. Additionally, smart interconnected lighting systems are critical. Traditional standalone sensors face challenges like battery replacement and installation logistics, while cameras raise privacy concerns. By leveraging lighting infrastructure to build optical networks, companies can transform them into sensor networks, offering comprehensive services for elderly care.

Market analysis highlights that collaborating with local enterprises to build IoT ecosystems is a key direction for the lighting industry. China boasts robust IoT platforms and companies, and partnerships with these ecosystems are helping age-adapted and other smart lighting products reach broader markets. For example, Feihui Intelligent Lighting, a joint venture between a leading lighting company and Xiaomi, has achieved explosive growth over the past two quarters, far outpacing the overall market. When asked about future collaborations, the company noted that its partnership with Xiaomi stems from shared vision and leadership alignment, but emphasized that collaboration models vary based on compatibility and needs.

The 2025 lighting market faces significant challenges, yet opportunities lie in age-adapted and smart lighting innovations. By investing in elderly-focused solutions, developing intelligent ecosystems, and forging local partnerships, lighting companies can differentiate themselves and achieve sustainable growth in a competitive landscape.