Who Makes Projector Lamps?
High quality projector lamps that meet the standards required by projectors are only made by a few projector lamp manufacturers in the world. Manufacturing projector lamps is an incredibly expensive and technologically challenging process that only a few companies are able to meet.
The major manufacturers in the projector lamp industry are
Philips - Philips is the pioneer of the projector lamp world. They began researching and developing the first metal halide lamps in 1995. Eventually they developed a mercury vapor projector lamp, which they called a UHP lamp or ultra-high pressure mercury vapor. The new development made it possible for projection systems to emit a brightness never seen before, and made digital projectors possible. Philips remains a dominant force in the projector lamp industry, and some estimates indicate that Philips has more than 70% control over the projector lamp manufacturing and sales market worldwide today.
Ushio - Ushio is a company that was founded in Japan, but now has offices in the the United States and around the world. The company manufactures hundreds of different industrial lights, lamps and bulbs. The company started operating in 1964 as an industrial light manufacturer. Ushio manufactures projector lamps for Sony, Sanyo, BenQ, and many other companies. Estimates indicate that they have a 10% share in the projector lamp market.
Osram - Osram is a company that started in Germany. The company specializes in producing the ARC tube in metal halide lamps and mercury vapor lamps. Osram claims to be the second largest lighting manufacturer in the world, the company has about a 7% market share of the market.
The Rest - There is a handful of projector lamp manufacturers located in Taiwan, Japan, and China. The most notable manufacturer is Matsushita, which is a subsidiary of Epson and manufacturers all of Epson's lamps. Most smaller manufacturers of projector lamps do not produce high quality lamps and are not commonly found in brand new projectors.
