Originally Posted by
JPMacG
Are bike lights about to become a low-cost commodity where one can get all the light he needs for under $30?
I think you are oversimplifying the market. $30 for the light assembly or $30 for light and power supply? HIDs were expensive because there was one supplier for the light and ballast, so the price for those two parts was set at >$100.
There are several options for sourcing LEDs, but an LED is useless until it's configured for our use and installed in a decent housing and connected to a power source.
Bike lights are also a niche market, so there's not a ton of money to be made. There are also a few entrenched players, so the barriers to entry for a new company to come in and corner the market with low cost products are high.
I've tried lots of lights over the years and think it will be a challenge for any manufacturer to market and sell a light for under $150 that can be used to meet the varied uses of bikers (off road, on road, commuting, etc) every day and take the abuse of riding in cold, rain, snow, etc. and last multiple years.