why sudden switch from RB100 to Q5

[nanotech17]

I have a small group buy back in my country and the person in charge of this small GB has been informed that the ongoing GB for rebel LED has been stop and it will be replace with the Q5 instead.
It seems the new Jetbeam is heading to the same direction as well.
Any clue why would they changed to Q5 instead of RB100?
Looks like Fenix is offering Q5 as well,and will they stop selling RB100 flashlights?
The RB80 flashlights is still available though.

 

[nanotech17]

could it be the RB100 has put an end on their production line and will be replace by Gen X K2 which will be the flagship for the Luxeon?
Or does Luxeon will stop producing the LED for the flashlight application and switch to another application or market segment? :thinking:

 

[DM51]

Probably only because the RB100 is no longer the latest fashion/craze/must-have. Perhaps the Q5 gives 0.01% more lumens, so is suddenly considered more desirable.

Next week it will be something else.

 

[datiLED]

It could be because the Rebel LED is hard to solder, and has issues with off tints and tint shift at different drive levels.

The CREE Q5's have a consistent tint at any drive level, and they are wicked bright in the right light.

The "next big thing" will probably be the Seoul V-bin LED's.

 

[glockboy]

With Q5 lights, a few months later you can replace it with R4 led without buying a new light.

 

[evan9162]

The 100 lumen Rebels seem to have been unavailable for the last month or more. Future Electronics (Lumileds' main distributor) didn't even list them for a while. It might be that small customers are no longer able to get them, and have switched over to Crees as a result.