Huntindog wrote:
On a side note: I don't think any of the LEDs are made anywhere but China... The expensive ones are likely the same as the cheapies... Just no american mark up.
"Made in" is difficult to nail down. Like a truck, an LED is a composite of lots of components.
The actual semiconductor junction, the light emitting diode is likely fabricated in Taiwan or Korea at a multi-billion dollar silicon foundry. The entire wafer gets QA and then rejects are sliced out by a computer guided water jet. They're supposed to be destroyed but I'm sure a fair number of these chips find their way out of the factory to be mounted in some generic brand product.
The phosphor coating is likely made in the USA or Germany. The optical grade silicone encapsulant is likely made in the USA, Germany or the Netherlands (talking about a high end led like a genuine Cree or Philips product).
The plastic or ceramic package is more than likely made in China, and that's where final assembly occurs, the LED chip is mounted, bond wires attached to the lead frame or directly to the package as is common for COB - chip on board type LEDs, everything gets coated with phosphor and silicone and baked for a while to cure and drive out moisture.
As at the foundry, rejects that don't bin correctly are supposed to be destroyed but more likely sold as an generic product.
