Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co., Ltd.

Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co., Ltd. (Foshan Lighting) has reached a comprehensive cooperation agreement with the IoT Division of Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. (“Alibaba Cloud Intelligence IoT”). Foshan Lighting will leverage Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform (hereinafter referred to as the "Feiyan Platform") and its ecosystem service resources to build an intelligent product/application/service ecosystem focused on the lighting and electrical industry. Over the next year, the company plans to launch more than 2 million smart devices on this platform to jointly explore domestic and international smart lighting markets.

As the No. 1 cloud computing service provider in the Asia-Pacific region and the third globally, Alibaba Cloud has developed general industry PaaS services tailored to various vertical industries. In the IoT sector, Alibaba Cloud has established the Alibaba Cloud Intelligence IoT Division, which has launched a series of AIoT smart networking service products across smart living, smart cities, smart communities, and smart manufacturing. This partnership will specifically focus on Alibaba Cloud’s AIoT smart living industry PaaS product—the Living IoT Platform (Feiyan Platform).

Foshan Lighting is a leading lighting brand in China with strong comprehensive competitiveness. The company operates over 50,000 retail outlets and more than 1,500 home specialty stores domestically, exporting approximately 40% of its products to more than 110 countries and regions worldwide. Additionally, Foshan Lighting actively develops independent FSL brand sales channels in international markets, establishing itself as a globally influential electrical lighting brand. In recent years, Foshan Lighting has continuously increased its strategic investments in smart lighting and healthy lighting solutions.

For its digital transformation, Foshan Lighting has chosen the Alibaba Cloud Feiyan Platform. Feiyan is an intelligent networking platform designed for smart home applications, enabling devices to be rapidly and cost-effectively connected to the cloud. Currently, the platform has surpassed 100 million connected devices, covering over 200 countries, 119 categories, and more than 2,000 SKUs, with collaborations involving over 500 brands.

Moreover, Feiyan Platform not only provides comprehensive AIoT smart features but also offers a leading application ecosystem development environment in China. This was a key factor in Foshan Lighting’s selection of Feiyan as its IoT platform. As part of this collaboration, Foshan Lighting has engaged Quectel Information to build a dedicated IoT private cloud platform. This will enable the company to transform Alibaba Cloud Feiyan Platform’s ecosystem and technological capabilities into a competitive advantage.

Market data shows that between 2018 and 2024, the smart lighting and electrical industry has maintained a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 20%, reaching a market size in the hundreds of billions. Today’s partnership marks just the beginning. Looking ahead, Alibaba Cloud IoT and Foshan Lighting will explore broader cooperation in domestic and international markets, as well as across online and offline sales channels. Together, they aim to expand the smart lighting and electrical industry, shaping the future of smart lighting innovation.

Amid the wave of IoT smart device upgrades, Foshan Lighting has been actively exploring its own smart transformation. However, the company faced two key challenges in selecting a technology platform: On one hand, while IoT technology is mature, as a traditional enterprise, the costs of in-house R&D and system development are extremely high. On the other hand, leveraging an existing smart device platform would require sharing its brand, devices, and users with the platform provider, posing operational risks.

By partnering with Alibaba Cloud, Foshan Lighting has developed its own platform based on the technical foundation of Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform, striking a balance between technological advancement and independent growth. According to Alibaba Cloud, after four months of joint development, Foshan Lighting successfully built its proprietary IoT platform using Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform. This platform supports multiple connectivity options, including WiFi and mesh networking, and is designed to serve global markets. In its first year of operation, it is expected to connect over 2 million smart devices.

Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform is a large-scale cloud platform capable of connecting billions of devices. It integrates essential smart home technologies and helps traditional manufacturers and brands in lighting, electrical, home appliances, and home improvement rapidly upgrade their IoT capabilities. Currently, the platform supports over 500 partner brands and 119 device categories.

Chen Mingbo, Head of Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform, stated that the platform enables traditional enterprises to efficiently integrate smart devices into the IoT ecosystem. Additionally, it allows businesses to build their own complete IoT systems on top of the platform. The platform not only supports IoT needs within China but also has robust international capabilities. With data centers deployed in Virginia, Frankfurt, and Singapore, along with global acceleration nodes, it ensures seamless IoT device connectivity worldwide.

Zhu Yiguang, R&D Director at Foshan Lighting, shared that the company began exploring smart solutions in 2015, experimenting with both self-built IoT systems and existing IoT platforms. Through these experiences, Foshan Lighting gained a clear understanding of the pros and cons of each approach: Developing an in-house platform may seem straightforward, but achieving large-scale, secure, and stable device operations presents immense technical challenges. Meanwhile, joining an established IoT platform offers easy integration but shifts key brand and customer touchpoints to the platform provider, leading to long-term disadvantages.

Alibaba Cloud’s Living IoT Platform combines the best of both approaches, allowing Foshan Lighting to maintain control over its business and customer resources while leveraging a mature IoT technology system to quickly establish its own platform. Zhu expressed confidence that this collaboration will create a globally influential ecosystem centered on smart lighting, integrating intelligent products, applications, and services.

On last October 28, Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co., Ltd. (FSL) signed an equity acquisition agreement with Yeelight’s controlling shareholders, Jiang Zhaoning and Liu Daping. According to the agreement, FSL intends to acquire more than 50% of Yeelight’s shares, making it the majority shareholder upon completion of the acquisition.

Yeelight, headquartered in Qingdao, is a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in smart lighting. As one of China’s earliest entrants into the smart lighting sector, Yeelight had previously attempted an IPO on the STAR Market but was unsuccessful. The acquisition by FSL is expected to provide Yeelight with stronger financial stability. Additionally, leveraging FSL’s expertise in automotive lighting modules, health lighting, and marine lighting, Yeelight could expand into new markets.

Strategic Expansion in Smart Lighting​

With the rapid development of IoT and artificial intelligence technologies, coupled with increasing consumer adoption, the smart lighting market has entered a phase of rapid growth. Established lighting brands are actively pivoting towards smart solutions, integrating and extending their portfolios. FSL has been strategically expanding in emerging fields such as smart lighting, health lighting, marine lighting, airport lighting, and agricultural lighting, aiming to cultivate new growth engines for sustainable development.

FSL’s decision to acquire Yeelight aligns with its strategy to accelerate its smart lighting presence. The company stated that with advancements in information technology and supportive government policies, the lighting industry is shifting towards smart, healthy, and green solutions. Yeelight’s technological expertise and market position in smart lighting will bring new growth opportunities for FSL. By integrating resources, FSL aims to strengthen its position in the competitive smart lighting market.

Yeelight’s Growth and Industry Impact​

As one of the pioneers in smart lighting, Yeelight has built a comprehensive product portfolio, established strong brand recognition, and accumulated leading technological expertise. If the acquisition proceeds, FSL will significantly enhance its influence in the smart lighting sector and improve its market competitiveness.

Founded in 2012, Yeelight made its mark in April 2013 when its founder, Jiang Zhaoning, launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Yeelight smart dimmable bulb, attracting over 200 backers. This marked its official entry into the smart lighting industry. In 2014, Yeelight became a key partner in Xiaomi’s ecosystem, co-developing products such as the Mi Desk Lamp and Mi Standing Study Lamp. These products natively integrate with the Mi Home ecosystem, enabling seamless smart home interactions. According to its official website, Yeelight’s business now spans whole-house lighting customization, human centric lighting, consumer-grade products, and smart commercial lighting.

The company’s strong presence in the smart lighting boom has attracted considerable investment. By the end of 2021, Yeelight had completed seven rounds of financing, raising 300 million yuan in its Series E funding. In August 2020, the company filed for an IPO on the STAR Market, but the listing was ultimately terminated in July 2021.

Financial disclosures reveal that Yeelight generated approximately 885 million yuan in revenue in 2023, with a net profit of 37.4 million yuan. In the first half of 2024, its revenue reached 463 million yuan, with a net profit of 22.8 million yuan.

FSL’s Vision for the Future​

FSL emphasized that acquiring Yeelight will accelerate its expansion in smart lighting. Given Yeelight’s early-mover advantage, well-established product lines, and technological leadership, the acquisition will rapidly boost FSL’s footprint in the smart lighting market and enhance its competitive edge.

By combining FSL’s resources with Yeelight’s innovation, the acquisition is set to shape the future of smart lighting, driving further advancements in intelligent home and commercial lighting solutions.

A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is in full swing. Smart cars have become a new trend in the global automotive industry. In September of this year, at the International Motor Show Germany, one of the world’s top auto shows and Europe’s largest auto show, the latest million-pixel HALO screen developed and produced by Liaowang and the latest Avatr 12 sports car model with Avatr’s brand feature HALO welcome interactive screen jointly appeared, which can realize a series of signal interactions such as brand promotion, pedestrian courtesy, and warning prompts, and confidently show the charm of “Made in China” and China’s high-end intelligent automobiles to the world.

Such an intelligent car light that can think and understand social interaction is precisely the innovative product of the R&D of Nanning Liaowang Automotive Lamp Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Foshan Lighting. In recent years, Foshan Lighting has increased its layout in the new energy vehicle lighting market, attracting widespread attention from the industry and capital markets, and has become a vivid interpretation of Foshan Lighting’s innovation-led high-quality development.

From a small light bulb factory on the banks of the Fen River, Foshan Lighting has now become a listed company with a brand value of over 30 billion yuan. As one of the few state-owned holding industry leaders in the country, Foshan Lighting has been deeply involved in the lighting industry for 65 years. In the face of the overall slowdown in demand and overcapacity in the lighting industry, how to win fierce market competition and achieve new growth? Foshan Lighting chose to change lanes and speed up on a new track. The company’s party committee fully played the role of “setting direction, managing the overall situation, and ensuring implementation” in-depth research around optimizing industrial layout, technological innovation, etc., further consolidated the main direction of relying on the real economy and manufacturing industry, and clarified the development ideas of “stabilizing the basic plate and opening up new tracks”.

In accordance with the specific deployment of the Provincial Party Committee’s “1310”, Foshan Lighting adheres to the leadership of party building and focuses on building first-class R&D institutions, introducing first-class talents, and launching first-class products, comprehensively activating innovation power, giving full play to the advantages of Liaowang in technology, production capacity, customer channels, etc., promoting the coordinated development of the vehicle lamp lighting industry chain, supply chain, and innovation chain, accelerating the transformation of vehicle lighting electronic business to the middle and high end and the expansion of the new energy market, and realizing the transformation from light source to vehicle lamp luminaire assembly matching. In the first half of this year, the revenue of the vehicle lamp business reached 720 million yuan, accounting for 25.34% of Foshan Lighting’s total revenue, becoming the third largest pillar business after general lighting products and LED packaging and component products.

Talent is the first resource. Foshan Lighting has been building a talent highland with perseverance, and has introduced more than 650 talents in different professional and technical fields including electronics, structure, optics, ID, software and hardware, and project development in recent years, including 10 doctors and 22 masters, providing talent support for the company’s development. Last year, it invested 267 million yuan in R&D, carried out 51 high-tech R&D projects and 12 key core technology research, flexibly introduced 11 external teams, solved problems in radar sensing technology, industrial design and development, intelligent module, etc., established six core technology libraries of light, heat, machine, electricity, linkage, and industrial design, participated in the compilation of 22 international, national, industry, and group standards, obtained 335 authorized patents, and was rated as a “national intellectual property demonstration enterprise”.

As the main force of Foshan Lighting’s vehicle lighting business, how Liaowang Automotive Lamp Co., Ltd. introduces and cultivates more high-precision and cutting-edge talents, and better supports the innovative and leapfrog development of the vehicle lighting business? Foshan Lighting has given an answer with extraordinary means and efforts. More than 50 high-end R&D technical talents have been introduced in the vehicle lighting sector, including industry-leading R&D talents and their teams. A vehicle lighting research institute has been established in Shanghai to carry out vehicle lighting technology innovation research, radiating and driving the talent cultivation of the three major research centers in Foshan, Nanning, and Liuzhou. At the same time, relying on Foshan Lighting’s Guangdong Provincial Doctoral Workstation, Postdoctoral Research Workstation Branch, and other platforms, it has continuously cultivated a cross-disciplinary, compound, and innovative young talent team, and through technical marketing, driven projects with R&D, and promoted R&D with projects, providing strong support for seizing the technological commanding heights and continuously carrying out product innovation. As of now, Liaowang has 137 authorized patents, including 7 invention patents, 118 utility model patents, and 12 appearance design patents.

Through the effective transformation of talent cultivation and technological innovation, product iteration has yielded fruitful results. Last month, Liaowang exhibited some forward-looking achievements such as high-end vehicle lamp assemblies at the 18th Automotive Lighting Industry Development Technology Forum and the 9th Shanghai International Automotive Lighting Exhibition, known as the “technical wind vane of the automotive lamp industry,” attracting widespread attention from industry insiders and technical experts.

Adhering to the concept of independent research and development to promote technological iteration, Foshan Lighting is continuously promoting the transformation of vehicle lighting products from small lamps and tail lamps to headlights and upgrading to the middle and high end. The Shanghai Vehicle Lighting Research Institute adheres to the development of core technologies such as innovative lighting, system modules, signal lights, and electronic platforms that lead the market, and has developed vehicle lamp intelligent networked technology that can realize human-machine autonomous interaction of vehicle lamps, integrating radar, vision, infrared and other functions in the car, and evolving traditional vehicle lamps that are only responsible for lighting into intelligent driving neural systems with perception and feedback capabilities. LED signal light products have been upgraded from thousands of pieces to tens of thousands of pieces.

At present, some vehicle lamp products of Foshan Lighting have been successfully applied to middle and high-end new energy vehicle models such as AITO, Avatr, and IM Motors. Among them, the front courtesy light that can realize human-machine autonomous interaction of vehicle lights is a global debut. With the whole vehicle driving scene, it can build an exclusive light energy field to meet more personalized expression needs and continuously explore a new blue ocean of vehicle lighting.

Every innovation is the starting point of progress. For sixty-five years, generations of Foshan Lighting people have explored in innovation and tempered in reform, set sail with innovation, and fought in the vast sea of stars. Foshan Lighting said that in the future, it will continue to implement the specific deployment of the Provincial Party Committee’s “1310”, continuously carry out technological innovation and product iteration, and embark on a path of integrated innovation of “lighting +”, accelerating the high-quality development of enterprises.