The plant lighting market might be the next big market opportunity. "The Chinese team" is competing globally - Guangya Exhibition
In the global wave of agricultural modernization and technological revolution, the plant lighting market is emerging as a promising blue ocean. The "Chinese force" is making its mark in this global competition by leveraging the synergy of the entire industrial chain and innovative breakthroughs, leading the new direction of industrial development.
Market size and growth potential: A high-growth cycle driven by the synergy of technology and policies
In 2024, the global LED plant lighting market continued to exhibit a strong expansion trend, with a market size reaching 1.315 billion US dollars, representing a year-on-year growth of 6.6%. This growth trend is the inevitable result of the synergy between technological innovation and policy benefits. Technological leaps have established the core of the industry, and the construction boom of vertical farms and the transformation of high-value crops have become direct driving forces. Continuous investment in vertical agriculture in Asia, the Middle East, North America, and Europe, as well as the demand for high-value crops such as medicinal plants and fruit and vegetable crops for precise light environments, have driven the evolution of LED equipment towards higher photosynthetic photon efficiency (PPE) and photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). The new generation of multi-channel adjustable light products achieved significant technological breakthroughs through dynamic spectral regulation. For example, the UV-B technology of Zhongke San'an increased strawberry yields by 15-25%, and the polysaccharide content of Dendrobium officinale increased by 15%. The maturity of technology has promoted the diversification of application scenarios. From the single yield of 8-12 times that of traditional farmland achieved by the NEOM Smart City project in Saudi Arabia in desert greenhouses, to the Ra90 high color rendering lamps jointly launched by Woodson and Xiaomi Ecology supporting home gardening, and to the successful cultivation of Martian potatoes by NASA's quantum dot LED and the "Moon lettuce lamp" project in the International Space Station achieving the full life cycle cultivation of lettuce, the technological boundaries have continuously expanded.
The policy wind has further strengthened the growth momentum. The global policy landscape presents three strategic focuses: China's rural revitalization and agricultural modernization policies have opened up differentiated market segments for local enterprises, such as vertical farm construction and the research and development of herbal medicine formulas; the legalization of medical marijuana in North America, the demand for vertical farms driven by the energy crisis in Europe, and the relaxation of planting policies in Southeast Asia have created an incremental market from the demand side. Policy benefits are not only reflected in direct subsidies or tax incentives, but also through the construction of application scenarios and the formulation of industry standards, which deeply participate in the construction of the industrial ecosystem.
Under the combined effect of technological penetration and policy empowerment, the plant lighting market will continue to enjoy a high growth period in the next five years. According to TrendForce's prediction, the market size is expected to exceed 2.056 billion US dollars in 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.4% from 2024 to 2029. This growth rate is essentially the inevitable outcome of the deep coupling of technological revolution and institutional innovation in the process of agricultural industrialization. The policy side creates market demand, reduces industry risks, and builds application scenarios, while the technology side enhances light efficiency, regulates light spectrum, and implements intelligent control, forming a closed loop, jointly driving the industry to evolve to a higher level.
Global competitive landscape: The game between international giants and the "Chinese force"
In the global plant lighting market, leading companies are accelerating their expansion, and the competitive landscape is gradually becoming clear. International giants such as Philips and Osram have firmly occupied the top positions of the industry pyramid by leveraging their technological patents and high market share in the premium segment. Meanwhile, Chinese enterprises like Sanan Optoelectronics and Mulinsen have rapidly risen in emerging markets through their cost-competitive advantages and localized strategies. Currently, the industry exhibits three main characteristics: International enterprises monopolize high value-added aspects such as spectral algorithms, domestic enterprises dominate large-scale manufacturing, and cross-border players are opening up new battlefields in smart agriculture.
International leading enterprises dominate the field of plant lighting. Philips (Signify) achieved a terminal sales of 170 million US dollars for its lighting products in 2024, accounting for 13% of the global market. Its medical cannabis equipment for professional cultivation holds a leading position in the field. In 2025, it plans to focus on promoting container farm solutions and furthering spectral optimization technology. Osram's LED plant growth lamps are renowned for their precise spectral control and energy-saving efficiency. In 2025, it will collaborate with Dutch LumiGrow to develop an AI light formula system, focusing on the high-power lighting market in the Middle East. American Cree LED's 660nm + 730nm dual red peak chips, MIT optogenetics microfluidic chips for single-cell light regulation, and Korean Seoul Semiconductor's quantum dot LEDs, among other technologies, jointly build the technological barriers of international enterprises.
However, the "Chinese team" is breaking through through the coordinated efforts across the entire industry chain, and building differentiated competitiveness. The upstream chips are independently controllable, and the bottleneck of spectral algorithm has been broken through. The 660nm red light chip of Sanan Optoelectronics has an electro-optical conversion efficiency at the international level, the gallium nitride chip has an annual light efficiency increase of 15%, and it has compressed the cost to 65% of international similar products through vertical integration. Shilan Micro's blue and green light chips have been successfully applied to the supplementary lighting system of the Venlo type greenhouse in the Netherlands, and Ganzhao Optoelectronics' 730nm far-red light chip has increased the light efficiency by 28%-32% in the industrial hemp cultivation in North America. Breakthroughs in underlying technologies such as cascaded phase modulation waveguide array chips have reduced the cost of spectral customization by 80%, promoting the democratization of technology.
In the midstream manufacturing sector, both scale and scenario-driven approaches are employed. The grassland plant cabin technology jointly developed by Mulinsen and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully secured a one-billion-yuan order in Xinjiang's one-thousand-acre alfalfa grassland, resolving the problem of fresh grass supply during winter. Hongli Zhihui's "intelligent lamps + light control system" solution has shortened the lettuce growth cycle to 28 days, with a 27% increase in light efficiency. Songsheng Co.'s drive power supply has passed the IP67 protection certification and operates stably in the high-temperature and high-humidity environment in Southeast Asia. The constant power technology ensures 97% light efficiency stability in extreme environments.
In the downstream application sector, high value-added scenarios have been increasingly penetrated and a global layout has been accelerated. Lianyu Optoelectronics has deepened its cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Through breakthroughs in full-spectrum plant supplementary lighting technology and blue light/far-red light combined light formulations, it has driven efficiency improvements in medicinal plants and high-latitude fruits and vegetables in high value-added scenarios. It also relies on production bases in Vietnam/Mexico and global channels to accelerate the global penetration and layout of vertical agriculture and urban plant factories. Foshan Lighting has developed red and blue light combined spectral spectra in Gaozhou, Haikou, United Nations Star Optoelectronics. By providing supplementary lighting, it has extended the production period of dragon fruit and improved its sweetness, increasing the annual output by 15%. It has also collaborated with the Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences to develop intelligent spectral equipment, using photoperiod regulation to promote blueberry flower bud differentiation. The related achievements have won the "China Small Berry Industry Development Contribution Award". Hodi Technology, as an expert in medicinal cannabis lighting in North America, provides ODM/OEM customized spectral solutions through cooperation with local brand manufacturers. Its revenue in the North American market accounts for over 80%.
Differentiated competition: Technology inclusiveness, scenario adaptation and energy synergy
In the global competition of plant lighting industry, the "Chinese force" has established a differentiated breakthrough path through three dimensions: technological inclusiveness, scene adaptation, and energy synergy. Technological inclusiveness relies on the 90% cost reduction of spectral chips, which lowers the technical threshold for small and medium-sized farms; scene adaptation adopts a dual-track strategy from the high-pricing market in Southeast Asia to the cost-effective market in Africa, hedging regional risks; energy synergy transforms plant factories into regional energy nodes through the "photovoltaic + hydrogen storage" model.
In contrast, although international enterprises maintain an advantage in patent barriers and high-power equipment, the "Chinese force" has achieved an irreversible advantage in terms of cost, delivery cycle, and scenario adaptation through a combination of measures such as data feedback from the downstream to R&D, coordinated efforts across the entire value chain for cost reduction, and precise market penetration in different regions. They are restructuring the value distribution pattern of the global agricultural infrastructure.
The plant lighting market, as the convergence point of agricultural modernization and technological revolution, is becoming the focus of global competition. "The Chinese team" has demonstrated strong competitiveness in this global game through the synergy of the entire industrial chain, technological innovation breakthroughs, and differentiated competitive strategies. It is expected to lead the new direction of industrial development and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to global agricultural modernization.
Source: Guangya Exhibition
