As many of you have noticed, many big box stores got rid of their metal halide high bay fixtures in favor of T-5 and T-8 fluorescent systems in industrial units. Today I noticed the local mall is starting to replace some of the 250 watt MH fixtures with louvered, streamlined T-5/HO fixtures and other 250w MH fixtures with 2x 42w triple PL fluorescents. That gave me a sinking thought, maybe HID is a dying breed? I know MH lamps create an issue with A/C operating costs because of the high temperatures, but I don't see how the 250 watt MHs would cause such issues. Any thoughts?

Well the mall in Santa Rosa replaced all their recessed 100w MH lamps with triple tube 42w recessed CFLs.  The Home Depot here went from 400w MH to 6 lamp F54T5 HO fixtures...

I think with CMH lamps though MH will be alive and well for a while!

I sincerely hope HID doesn't die :-(

But maybe outdoor lights will remain MH and HPS...

HID lamps are not very common for the general public here, very rarely see someone having a HID to light their yard. If they do need a lamp, they would have to go to electrical wholesalers. HID lamps are still popular here though so there is probably no need to worry 

but hey think about it...what if they started using flourecents in streetlights in the USA....kinda like olden times ;-)

home depot's have done the thing dave has said the t-5 4 strip deal there "cheaper to run"  not all are changed over but a few i have been to have i think the usa does the 30 yr thing things all seem to go away then come back then go away

Maybe, but until LEDs get efficient in lm/w. Incandescent lamps are losing to LEDs and Fluorescent.

I've noticed T5's cropping up everywhere in stores. Looking at Sylvania's online catalogue, it seems the new generation of fluorescents are outperforming MH all over the board. Even the ceramics and pulse start.

The newer fluorescents seem to be going over 100 L/W initially and only dropping to 85 or 90 for the "mean" lumens. The best MH seem to only be in the 90's and drop to 70 for the better ones and 55 or so for the standard ones. Of course, it also depends on horizontal vs. vertical mount.

Then there's the lifespan. The HO fluorescents all list at 20,000+ hrs. while MH is usually 15,000 and up to 20,000.

Of course, these are in ideal conditions...we'll see how these newer fluorescents actually perform. There's always the quality control factor. One thing for sure, electronic ballast technology has been steadily improving...even if there are the "cheapos" out there. Also, phosphors have been steadily improving.

A couple years ago, they put up a new Lowes in my area and within a year, literally half of the MH boxlights in the parking lot were out. All the T5 fixtures in the store are still working...at least I haven't seen any ones go out.

Incandescents will likely never go out of production because about 90% of the households in the USA still use them. They are decreasing  in number only in commerical and industrial applications. It is indeed a rare sight to spot an A-19 in a mall where the most modern lighting systems are usually found. Even in Europe and other countries where electricity is far more expensive, the incandescent lamp remains the most commonly used light source in residences.

Maybe, but until LEDs get efficient in lm/w. Incandescent lamps are losing to LEDs and Fluorescent.

OK while this hasnt been posted in for 4 years I thought I would mention here all the Shell gas stations have replaced there PSMH fixtures with LEDs some thing I do not like 

I had noticed locally that many big box stores here, such as Home Depot, Fred Meyer and Sam's Club have done away with their MH lights and gone to fluorescents.  Lowes was built with them to begin with.  In the case of Home Depot and Sam's Club, I can see the advantage to the fluorescent lights.

Their MH lights were pendant mounted, where they were often the lowest thing hanging from the ceiling (aside from signs).  Both use forklifts on the floor quite often.  It was a common sight at Sam's, though also seen at HD, to see an MH light smashed up from from a collision with a forklift.  The fluorescent lights they use are flat mounted high up within the rafters where they are less likely to be knocked out by forklifts.

These days the fluorescent give cheaper "minimum lighting level" and less shadows in such applications, as their larger physical size make the light rather diffused - not as much possible with high power HID.
And the use of low power HID's (70W CMH) are way more costly then the use of same count of 80W T5 fluorescents.
And fluorescents have one extra benefit: Nearly zero restrike time to full output - so no safety issues with blacked out lighting caused by e.g. mains voltage dip. In other words the fluorescent installation allow such dips, so money could be saved on systems avoiding them (at least their use for lighting), making the whole installation even cheaper.

So HID's are getting restricted to places, where beam focusing (spot accent lighting) or small lantern physical size (with high lumen output - outdoor, night sky friendly installations) are necessary, where fluorescents simply give too much diffused light.

But glad to see this happening not by bans, but by "natural selection": user's choice.