# Bulk prices for Cree LEDs?



## ahorton (May 25, 2011)

I'm having trouble finding out the sort of prices at which Cree sell their good LEDs (in bulk).

The motivation is that I'm looking at getting a bunch of MCPCBs made and assembled with LEDs and driver. The local prices have pushed me to consider Chinese manufacturers and I'm getting some quotes which are pricing the XP-G R5s and XR-E R2s at USD2.0-2.5 each.

Is this possible?

I'm ignoring a large number of quotes which look dodgy for other reasons but I have several respectable looking quotes at these very cheap prices. All claim (and show evidence) for working with these LEDs in larger quantities so it may be possible.

I have no doubt that they could do it with lower binned LEDs, but what about the R2S and R5s?


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## HarryN (May 25, 2011)

Hi, I don't know the answer, but in CA, we have an official cree distributor that I have used with success. Even in small qty, they were pretty reasonable and soldered the LEDs onto stars for me. The will sell binned Cree LEDs to anyone (even to me  )

IIRC, they mounted the LEDs on stars for me (including the stars) for around US $ 0.50 - but that was 2 - 3 years ago and in small qty. It was a combination of XP-Gs and MC-Es for some testing I was doing.

It might be worth a double check.

http://etgtech.com/

The thing you have to watch out for, is that there are so many counterfeit electronic components on the market now, especially LEDs. I have no idea how to completely avoid this, but it is a factor to consider in your project.


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## SemiMan (May 25, 2011)

Bunch and "bulk" are not necessarily the same thing. For an LED supplier, anything less than thousands of pieces is low volume. $2.50 for XPG-R5 ... yes at reasonable volume and yes <$2.0 in high volumes. If it is a Chinese company that is sourcing it for you would I trust it is an R5? ...... you can decide. What is it worth for you to test each and every part to ensure it is the brightness bin you expect?

Semiman


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## Curt R (May 25, 2011)

When I talk to the field reps that work for Cree and Seoul, they
complain about the counterfeit LEDs that look just like the real
items that come out of China. A flashlight factory will buy a small
contract of real LEDs, (50,000), and make 200,000 flashlights from
them. This is to show potential buyers in the US or EU that they
use premium parts in their manufacturing process. The electronic
distributors association also has indicated that there may be as many 
as 200 real parts at the beginning of a 1000 piece reel, and the rest
are counterfeit. There is no way of telling if you are getting 'real' LEDs
from China or even 'real' LEDs in the flashlight that you buy that is made
in China. 

At the light fair in LV three years ago we were offered flashlights with
batteries, blister packaged with our name delivered to us for $48.00 USD
per dozen. Paul at TOP products constantly flies to China to complain
about quality and sometimes up to 20% of a delivery that fails to work.

The large number of imported lights that dealers and others that call 
themselves manufacturers, ( that have no manufacturing capability ),
are due to the low cost of those lights. The typical markup is 6 or 7 to one.
A retail price of an imported light of $49.95 USD, will cost the dealer or
'manufacturer' about $7.50 or less. 

Bottom line; spend a little extra and buy 'real' parts from a distributor that
deals directly with the manufacturer of Cree LEDs. ETG is owned by Arrow,
the second largest electronic parts distributor in the US.

Curt


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## ahorton (May 25, 2011)

Thanks guys. Most of these comments reflect my own thoughts. Interesting though that the price might be possible.

I'm still undecided but I'll keep considering.


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## mds82 (May 26, 2011)

check digikey or arrow electronics. i usually buy 1000-4000 a time of the cree xp-g's for my business. you can also call arrow and get better prices sometimes


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