CFL shipments lag, but T12s grow

NEMA’s shipment index for T12 lamps beat the previous two quarters by advancing 8.6% from the second quarter to the third. In contrast, shipments of T5 and T8 lamps decreased by 6.6% and 11.1%, respectively. All three indices are in negative territory on a year-over-year basis for 2014 through the third quarter. T12 lamps secured an increase in market share for the quarter posting a gain of 3.2 percentage points to reach a share of 22.2%.

We asked Stacey Harrison, NEMA's director of statistical operations, about the uptick in T12 lamp shipments and he explained that it's most likely statistical noise - more a random fluctuation in shipments of replacement lamps than anything to do with real demand - and pointed out that the overall trend for T12s is still significantly downward.

Compact fluorescent lamp shipments, meanwhile, continued to slide, posting a year-over-year decline of 14.5% in the third quarter of 2014 despite a modest quarterly increase of 1.5%.

The shipments index for incandescent A-line lamps posted a decline of 62.9% for the quarter. In contrast, shipments of LED A-line and halogen A-line lamps continued to grow, showing quarterly gains of 53.8% and 37.7%, respectively.