Vishay TLHK5100 5mm Red LED Price & Lead Time: A Buyer’s View

Here is the short version if you’re looking for the Vishay TLHK5100 5mm red LED and don’t want to dig through quote tables: in the quotes I’ve seen over the past few months, orders of 100 to 1,000 pieces usually land between $0.10 and $0.25 per LED, and lead time is basically one of two things—either an authorized distributor has it in stock and it ships that day, or you are looking at an 8 to 12-week factory backorder. So check stock before you compare price.

I’m an office administrator for a 90-person engineering services company, not an electrical engineer. Since 2020 I’ve handled most of the electronics purchasing here—roughly $250K to $300K a year across a dozen vendors—and components like this one cross my desk whenever a prototype moves into production. I still read the datasheet before ordering, but I’ve learned to check the supplier’s stock status even earlier.

What I mean by “price” for the TLHK5100

Vishay doesn’t publish a simple street price for this 5mm red LED. The price depends on the distributor, the quantity, the date code, and whether you have a contract behind the order. Here’s what I have seen in real quotes over the last few months:

• 1–25 pieces: about $0.25–$0.60 each if stock is available. If the distributor has to bring it in, the minimum handling or order charge can make the effective cost much higher.
• 100–999 pieces: roughly $0.10–$0.25 each in the quotes I reviewed for 2024–2025.
• 1,000+ pieces: about $0.06–$0.15 each, depending on the distributor and whether you can wait for the next factory replenishment.

Those ranges are from distributor quotes, not from a published Vishay list price. I’m sharing them because the buyer-side reality is often different from the “call us for pricing” answer.

Lead time: check stock before you check price

The most useful thing I learned after taking over purchasing in 2020 is that the TLHK5100 is not treated the same way by every distributor. In late 2024, one authorized distributor told me 6 weeks for 200 pieces. Another showed stock in a regional warehouse and asked me to confirm by 3pm if I wanted next-day shipment. Same part number, different supply picture.

For planning, assume two scenarios:

• Stocked at a distributor: order by the cutoff, and you can usually have it in hand in 2–5 business days.
• Factory backorder: plan for 8–12 weeks plus a few receiving days. One distributor quoted 6 weeks, but I don’t promise that timeframe internally.

Also, beware of a stock status that means it’s in a distributor’s secondary warehouse, not the main one close to you. The freight time changes more than most people expect.

Paying extra for speed: my 2024 rush order lesson

In March 2024, a customer moved up a milestone and we had two weeks to get 60 boards assembled. We discovered we were short by 350 TLHK5100 units. My normal process would have been to get three quotes and wait for a stock shipment. There wasn’t time. I ordered from the authorized distributor that had stock in its regional warehouse and paid about $0.28 per LED. That was two to three times the usual quantity price, but the extra cost was small compared with the cost of missing the customer’s date.

The surprise was that the LED cost didn’t hurt. The freight charge did. I paid more for expedited delivery than for the LEDs themselves. In hindsight, I should have asked the engineer whether there was an approved alternate part on our qualified list, or whether we could split the order and ship partial quantities. But with the deadline, I went with the safest known-good part.

A cheaper source isn’t cheaper if it lacks compliance documents

In 2022, I found an independent supply company offering 800 pieces well below our regular cost. It looked like the same Vishay part number. Before ordering, I asked our engineer to review it. The supplier’s documentation was thin: no clear traceable RoHS/REACH paperwork and no solid date code history. We decided not to buy. A few months later, similar parts from that channel showed up in a rejected lot at another firm because the parts could not be traced. Since then, I assume that any quote significantly below market has a hidden cost somewhere.

What the TLHK5100 is, and why the part number matters

The TLHK5100 is a through-hole, T-1 3/4 (5mm) red LED from Vishay’s optoelectronics line. It isn’t an exotic part, but it also is not the same as a no-name red LED with similar-looking specs. I learned this the hard way: “same color” on paper meant a visibly different part in hand. If your design calls for the TLHK5100, don’t let anyone substitute a generic equivalent without an engineer’s sign-off.

One name note before I wrap this up: the legal manufacturer name is Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. People often search for “Vishay Technologies, Inc.” because it sounds right, and search engines usually still get you to Vishay’s site. In your purchasing system, though, use the legal name so the purchase order doesn’t bounce.

What about people searching “NXP vs Vishay”?

If you searched “NXP vs Vishay” and landed here, this article is narrower than you expected. NXP and Vishay are not direct competitors across most of this product area. I buy microcontrollers and sensors from NXP, and passives, discretes, and optoelectronics from Vishay. They often sit on the same board, but they do different jobs. What they do have in common, from a buyer’s perspective, is supply-chain risk. A long lead time or an allocation notice can delay production no matter who makes the part.

Where this advice stops

• If your company has an annual pricing agreement with Vishay or a volume contract, my price ranges won’t apply.
• If your board requires automotive or military qualification, do not rely on a blog post. Use the exact part number, approved distributor list, and traceability requirements from your own quality team.
• If you only need 5 pieces, the minimum handling cost may matter more than the unit price. In that case, a local authorized distributor is often better than ordering direct.
• If you are evaluating alternatives, check the official Vishay datasheet before making any substitution.

I don’t think there is one “best” supplier for the TLHK5100. In my experience, the price difference between authorized distributors is smaller than the difference between “in stock” and “factory order.” So if this is a new inventory buy or a short production run, respect the lead time. And if you do need a rush order, pay the premium only when the downside of waiting costs more than the freight. Getting the exact TLHK5100, from an approved source, on time—that’s what a boring and successful purchase looks like from my desk.