A case study of Nichia Corporationʼs intellectual property management strategies and their impact on advancing the LED lighting sector in mainland China since 2010

チュウゴク　ニ　オケル　LED　ショウメイ　サンギョウ　ノ　カクダイ　カテイ　ト　ニッケイ　キギョウ　ノ　チザイ　センリャク　ニ　カンスル　イチコウサツ　ニチアカガクコウギョウ　ノ　ジレイ　ト　ソノ　トクショク

Wei, Jingjing

許, 衛東

Xu, Weidong

The Economic Society of Osaka University and Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University

生産連鎖

競争優位

知財戦略

使い分け

LED lighting industry

production chain

competitive advantage

management of intellectual property

differentiation of management

Article

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a semiconductor technology with rapidly growing applications in generalpurpose lighting and significant potential for energy savings. Nichia Corp is a renowned manufacturer in the global LED industry. Since its successful development of the worldʼs first high-luminous blue LED, Nichia Corp has been a leader in LED innovation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of Nichia Corpʼs management of intellectual property when it decided to enter the mainland Chinese market since 2010, from the perspective of emerging market strategies. Overall, the supply chain of the LED lighting industry is characterized by strong global interdependencies. The supply chain features the United States, Europe, and Japan at the upstream stage; Taiwan and South Korea, where most semiconductors are produced, in the middle stage; and China, which integrates chips into final products, at the downstream stage. Particularly noteworthy is the rapid market growth in China, which has emerged as the largest producer and supplier in the global LED lighting market. Through the provision of cross-licensed patents and high-standard light-emitting chips to local LED manufacturers in export-oriented developed countries, Nichia Corp achieved significant market profits and played a crucial role in transformation of the lighting industry.

許, 衛東