NEMA’s Lamp Indexes for incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) showed a modest rebound during the fourth quarter of 2008, rising 2.6 and 1.8 percent, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.

Despite the quarter to quarter gain, the incandescent lamp index declined 14.9 percent on a year-over-year basis. Moreover, the incandescent index for 2008 registered its fifth consecutive annual decline, falling 20.7 percent compared to 2007. The performance of the CFL index was mixed, increasing 11.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2007 while retreating 2.2 percent for the calendar year as a whole relative to 2007.

The incandescent share of household lamp sales reversed a quarterly trend of losing market share to CFLs during the fourth quarter, increasing to 77.5 percent, as consumers eschewed costlier (on a first-cost basis) CFLs. Nonetheless, the CFL share of household lamps increased during 2008 to nearly 24 percent from 20 percent in 2007.

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