Since prices dropped by half, LED lights are selling like hot cakes this year.
The surge in demand for the new generation of light bulbs has quickly emptied store shelves, prompting more manufacturers to jump into the market.
LED lights first appeared about a decade ago, but their poor brightness limited them to emergency use. Recent advances in longevity and brightness, however, have turned their fortunes around completely.
Today's LED bulbs cost as little as ?4,000 but boast a longevity of 40,000 hours, which is about 40 times the life span of incandescent bulbs. They also consume nearly 90 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs.
Compared with fluorescent light bulbs, LED lamps are six times more durable and use at least 40 percent less energy.
Rising public awareness of environmental issues is also boosting LED sales. Countries embarking on "green" initiatives are letting incandescent bulbs fall by the wayside as they move to save energy.
Under the previous government led by the Liberal Democratic Party, then Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari announced a plan last year to cease production and sales of incandescent bulbs by 2012.
As a result, demand for LED bulbs is outpacing supply.
"We are swamped by orders and just can't keep pace with demand," said Takahisa Uzumaki, senior manager at Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp., a unit of Toshiba Corp., which developed LED bulbs in 2007.
Sales of LED lights spiked this summer as prices began to come down. At one large store in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics shopping district, "Sold Out" signs were seen at the LED light section.
"Many customers buy LED bulbs just to try them out," said a shop clerk.
In June, Sharp Corp. unveiled a plan to sell LED bulbs for about ?4,000, less than half the price of products made by other companies. Then more manufacturers, including Panasonic Corp. and NEC Corp., entered the fray.
Competition is heating up because startups founded only five or six years ago have entered the market, since it doesn't take large facilities to mass-produce LED bulbs. That's one of biggest differences of LEDs over incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
As new companies crowd into the LED business, Toshiba Lighting is taking on the challenge by halving its prices. Their bulbs now retail for under ?5,000.
The Toshiba group is fostering the business and betting it will turn into a hot sector.
"We intend to boost annual LED lighting sales to ?350 billion by March 2016 from the current ?20 billion," said Masashi Muromachi, a senior executive at the parent firm.
Sharp aspires to raise annual sales to ?50 billion in the near future.
With energy conservation a matter of global concern, manufacturers also anticipate brisk demand abroad. Toshiba aims to get overseas sales to account for 30 percent or more of its total LED sales by the year ending in March 2016.
Panasonic is also setting its eyes on foreign markets.
While they are experiencing a sudden burst of popularity, LED bulbs still leave something to be desired technologically. They are more expensive and less bright than their fluorescent counterparts.
The new type of light bulb can become standard in every household only when manufacturers address and overcome these weaknesses.