I need to take some pictures to show you guys, but I have recently received several "fake" LatticeBright XM-Ls in lights and even a few fake XP-G2s. If you've seen a lot of genuine LEDs you can spot the difference by eye, but they are really pretty close. It is obvious that they are attempting to make them look like the real deal. Pretty sketchy.
I remember reading a few threads about fake XP-G2s a while back...I think they were probably LatticeBrights, even though we didn't know it at the time. Thread 1.Thread 2. Until these we hadn't seen fakes that were that good.
A few months ago I talked to a Cree rep. and this is what he had to say:
If we can somehow acquire one of each of these Latticebright clones, to take Macro-photos of them along side the genuine CREE emitters to display the differences would be good to help us identify them apart.
Most of them have come in lights, from a few different sources. I got a batch of Small Sun ZY-T08s with fake LEDs (I didn't sell them, I used them to modify, but that was the last straw and why I don't carry it anymore--I think I still have all of the fake LEDs I pulled out of them). I also got some random headlamps with them as well. I will take some pictures tonight and post them here. I don't know if I can find the XP-G2, but I know I have a few of the XM-L fakes on-hand in a baggy somewhere.
Think of how many millions of lights they will ship out with clone leds in them. You know, I have always felt the aluminum used in Chinese lights was sub-par and it's been that way forever, so why not have everything sub-par? Drivers with just one resistor and no modes, leds that only put out a few lumens, plastic lenses, plastic reflectors. Heck, as long as they sell...
I'm glad I have someone like RMM to buy components from. At least I know they are legit.
Don’t get those mixed in with your lumens packaged in those tiny little baggies. People expect 100% pure lumens. They dont want to buy lumens that have been stomped on.
Lol don't worry, they're nowhere near the others. The others are all in tapes, individually labeled baggies, in separate sealed containers according to type. There won't be any mixups. The bad ones are all in a crappy baggy somewhere still on the MCPCBs.
"Cree has announced restructuring in its LED manufacturing business that has been driven by higher than anticipated erosion on packaged LED selling prices..."
"Swoboda also briefly discussed the LED-based lighting division at Cree. Overall, he said the company would reduce its focus on LED components and general consumer lighting and shift focus to higher-end consumer and commercial lighting products. He said lower LED and consumer LED bulb revenue is the reason for lower projections."
From the same website, different article http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2015/08/cree-and-epistar-sign-major-led-patent-cross-licensing-agreement.html
"LED manufacturers Cree and Taiwan-based Epistar have announced a global intellectual property (IP) cross-licensing agreement covering all nitride-based-LED patents owned by each and some non-nitride-based patents as well"
"The new deal does not mark the first time Cree has struck a deal with an LED manufacturer based in Taiwan. Last year, Cree invested in Lextar, another company with mid-power expertise. At the time of that announcement, Cree said it would source LEDs from Lextar."
the OP & title can be changed or edited to apply more if needed.
