SIC 3641 Electric Lamp Bulbs and Tubes
SIC 3641
This industry classification covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electric bulbs, tubes, and related light sources. Important products of this industry include incandescent filament lamps, vapor and fluorescent lamps, photoflash and photoflood lamps, and electrotherapeutic lamp units for ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing glass blanks for bulbs are classified in SIC 3229: Pressed and Blown Glass and Glassware, Not Elsewhere Classified.
335110
Electric Lamp Bulb and Part Manufacturing
The light bulb and electric lamp industry provides a practical means of converting electric energy into usable light. Just under one-fourth of all the electricity sold in the United States was used for lighting. Besides illuminating businesses, schools, and homes, light bulbs are used in a plethora of applications and products—including automobiles, flashlights, sports fields, medical equipment, airport runways, and emergency exit signs.
About 80 companies were engaged in the manufacture of electric lamp bulbs and tubes in the early 2000s. They generated shipments of $2.65 billion in 2003, compared to $3.32 billion in 1998. This decline was largely a result of the increasing presence of foreign competition. The number of employees between 1998 and 2003 fell from 15,946 to 10,987 as firms downsized to streamline costs and boost efficiency. Due to the high maturation of many market segments, manufacturers were looking to boost profits with high-tech lamps and bulbs that could burn longer, brighter, and more efficiently. The implementation of laws prohibiting the continued manufacture of more than 45 electric lamps that do not meet newly established energy standards will certainly create additional changes in the market in the years to come.
In the early 2000s the electric lamp bulbs and tubes industry was characterized by intensive competition. However, it also was aided by a strong U.S. economy that led to increased housing starts and a long-awaited resurgence in commercial office building construction. While technological innovations remained the heart of the competitive atmosphere, major manufacturers were focusing ever more heavily on strategic marketing campaigns to ease customer confusion and showcase their products in a crowded market. Moreover, customer perceptions of lighting products in general were targeted to promote electric lamp bulbs and lighting as a decorative item rather than a commodity.
The industry produces thousands of different bulbs, tubes, strobes, and flashes. However, the three primary products sold by U.S. electric lamp manufacturers are incandescent, fluorescent, and electric-discharge lights and bulbs.
Incandescent bulbs produce light by heating a filament to a high temperature. The filament, which is usually composed of tungsten, emits a yellowish glow as electricity flows through it. The bulb is filled with an inert gas, such as argon, to keep the filament from melting and evaporating. Most incandescent bulbs are designed to operate at between 30 and 150 watts of power and at 120 volts of electricity. They typically produce between 750 and 2,500 lumens of light (a lumen is the amount of light that falls on each square foot of a 1-foot radius sphere when a candle is placed at the center).
One reason incandescent bulbs are popular is because they are inexpensive to purchase. A standard 60-watt bulb usually costs about $1.99 and provides about 750 to 1,000 hours of light. Incandescent bulbs are also relatively compact, operate well at low temperatures, and offer a high degree of optical control. The primary disadvantage of this type of lamp, however, is low efficiency. A typical 100-watt bulb, for example, dissipates about 95 percent of its electric current as heat. Less than 5 percent is actually converted to light, resulting in high operating temperatures and superfluous energy consumption.
A second type of incandescent bulb is the halogen lamp, which became popular during the 1980s. Halogen bulbs are filled with iodine or bromine gas, which prolongs the filament's life by reducing tungsten evaporation. A standard halogen bulb lasts about 3,000 hours at 25 lumens-per-watt. Some halogen lamps also consume less energy. Because these bulbs emit ultraviolet radiation and can get extremely hot, however, they are often encased in a heat resistant material, like quartz, within the outer bulb. For this and other reasons, halogen lamps cost as much as five or even ten times more than traditional tungsten bulbs.
The second major category of electric bulbs is the fluorescent bulb and tube sector, which serves as the primary electric light source in the United States. Most fluorescent lamps are tube shaped, have a tungsten filament or tungsten coils...
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