In short, the manufacturer Phillips worked with the ruler of Dubai to produce more efficient, longer lasting LED light bulbs than Phillips was releasing in the rest of the world in order to allow the bulbs to be sold in Dubai. It is doubtful that these improvements were not already thought of by Phillips engineers but probably due to corporate profit motives or other agendas, Phillips opted for a less reliable design. It is true that the bulbs shown in the video below are not dimmable and probably cost slightly more to produce, but how long they last and the fact they use less power most likely vastly offsets the cost difference. In theory these bulbs could last years longer than versions sold in the USA.
Phillips heralds this as a successful private public partnership that resulted in innovation, but it is questionable if that is actually why and how the bulbs were created. After all, even this author was aware of how much longer LED bulbs last by simply dimming them a little. It’s as if they are designed to self destruct relatively quickly at their rated output and with only minimal additional engineering required to make them last much longer and while even using less energy, you start to wonder about things.
An electrical engineer “bigclivedotcom” on YouTube breaks down the differences in the Dubai bulbs.
Phillips business model for lightbulbs has been low cost made in China versus quality. As a former Sylvania Lightbulb employee we knew this to be true. Sylvania valued quality and American made first then price. Too bad the American consumer values lowest cost first and the result is Sylvania eliminated hundreds of jobs in NH – Manchester, Exeter, and Portsmouth and Maine – Waldoboro and Bangor. There is no incentive for Philips to prioritize quality and extended life of their lighting products. People say Buy American and Quality but their purchases prove otherwise.