The lamps you're not allowed to have. Exploring the Dubai lamps

These fascinating lamps are a result of a collaboration between Philips Lighting and Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - the ruler of Dubai.
They are designed to be the most efficient available, matching high lumen output with very long life. Once you see the construction and circuitry you'll realise this isn't just marketing spin.

In return for the development Philips gained exclusive rights to manufacture the lamps for a fixed duration, extending from their announcement in 2016. Philips expect to have supplied 10 million of the lamps by the end of 2021.

There is a requirement for new installations to use the new lamp, which has upset some designers and architects, as they are only available in 8 forms. 3W and 2W globes, a 1W candle globe and a 3W MR16 12V downlight version. All four available in either cool daylight or warm white to make up the eight options. This restricts the style of the lamp shape and excludes warmer whites unless coloured by a shade. They're also not dimmable, which contributes greatly to their reliability, but does require a more open minded approach to lighting design.
The range also excludes the GU10 format, which isn't a bad thing as they're probably one of the least reliable lamps due to the use of electronics in a confined space with hot LEDs.

These lamps are currently only available in Dubai. The likelihood of them appearing elsewhere is limited by the fact that they are designed to last a long time, which isn't profitable for the manufacturers. Maybe that'll change over time.

Although Philips have initial exclusivity of supply, it'll be interesting to see what happens when that period of time comes to an end. Will the other manufacturers make the same amount of effort as Philips did?

Slight correction. The two MOSFET gate resistors are actually 4.7Mohm and not 470K, which makes sense for gate voltage protection.

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[Remmes]

Imagine designing a reliable, efficient lamp, but then not being allowed to sell it everywhere...and potentially not going to anyway just because of the fact they can last longer.... what a world we live in.

[sandordugalin]

Lesson learned: If you're rich enough, you can strong-arm international corporations not to screw you over.

[majorgnu]

To clarify: Phillips has an exclusivity deal *in Dubai.*
That means they're the only ones allowed to sell these kind of lamps in Dubai for the duration of the deal, making them the sole supplier whenever they're mandated.
*Phillips and others could still sell these kinds of lamps anywhere else in the world if they so desired.*

[nicktw]

I bought a few of these in Dubai a few years ago and brought them back with me. I didn't realize how unique they were at the time, just that they looked good and were cheap. ---and they work perfectly.

[ShirleyNekoDev]

Google search trends suddenly has a spike in searches for "dubai lamp" - I love it!

[Snowcube]

It's incredibly frustrating seeing good technology intentionally held back like this.

[JohnMushitu]

This makes me wonder how many beneficial technologies are being kept from the world

[CheapoPremio]

For those wondering they are marketed as "phillips ultra efficiency" in some places.

[Snuzzled]

Title: "The lamp you're not allowed to have."

Me: "I have never heard of these before today, and yet I have never wanted anything more in my life."

[maxpayne.]

Fun fact : this isn’t anything new but lamp makers entered an agreement as a cartel about a century back to produce very limited lifespan lights. Manufacturers producing bulbs with higher than agreed lifespan (in hours) were punished.

[bbol]

I thought his was going to be some dangerous light bulb that could catch your house on fire. It actually turned out to be something that would beneficial to the entire world. Why can’t we get them everywhere? Efficiency is good.

[emptech]

I'm very impressed with your reverse engineering of the lamp circuit. I've been reverse engineering circuits for about 60 years now and have a real appreciation for what you did. I was surprised that it wasn't a switching regulator, but that would be something prone to failure. I wondered about the "filaments" that they were many LEDs wired in series. If I recall, the junction voltage of an LED is about 1.65 volts, the last I can remember.

I remember seeing my first LED back in the late '60's as a replacement for pilot lamps, not very bright but used hardly any power.

I hope your schematic gets archived somewhere - got job - Jim

[happyundertaker]

Oh Phillips could sell them everywhere, they just don’t want to.

[angst_]

Now I really want some for my house, but I don't know if that's because they look high quality, or if it's just the fact that I'm not allowed to have them!

[TigerSquidCA]

Never thought I’d spend an hour searching for gray-market lightbulbs but here we are.

[hbjigcc]

I don't know about other countries but this product finally made it to the italian market in the last weeks, Philips calls it "Classe A". The "40w 485 lumens" lamp draws 2.3w and it costs around 10€.

[Ragnarok]

I find amusing how almost everyone knows about planned obsolescence and how can it be bad, but almost no one tries stuff to circumvent it.

[paulmccoy]

Does anyone but me appreciate the extra thought and care taken to cut out the round shape of the circuit board pictures?

[Faygris]

"I need an LED lamp please"
Salesman: _Puts LED lamp on the counter_
"No, you don't understand, I need a _real_ LED lamp" _Puts $20 on the counter_
Salesman: "Ah, I see!" _Puts Dubai lamp on the counter_

[Davorta]

Believe it or not, my father, 25 years ago, bought a non-branded Light bulb from some random chinese electrical shop and brought it back home and put it on our outdoor roof light, it was a very bright white lamp compared to other available lamp brand at that time. But what was so surprising was that single lamp lasted for more than 11 years, he bought it when i was probably 7, and when i come to collage that lamp still run and as bright as when it was new.

But the house got renovated and the lamp accidentally damaged in the process and we sadly can not bought it again or check which brand it was made from since it had nothing written on it nor in its packaging.