It is and it isn't.
Some people are rating their lights inappropriately, that's for sure. They do the same thing with stereos and amplifiers. It's up to the consumer to do the actual homework to make sure they're buying a proper device.
For instance, you see a Yamaha stereo that boast 75 watts RMS and an off brand stereo boasting 400 watts. The uneducated person will buy the 400 watt brand thinking he's getting more power when he's not. It's where they rate that 400 watts and at what frequency that gives them the "legal" ability to put that 400 watt label on it.
Then of course that person is shocked when they hear how loud and crystal clear the Yamaha is when it's rated so much lower in power.
LED's are no different. You get these companies like Viaspectra that intentionally miss-rate their lights. For instance, they advertise this one:
watt LED light. But lets do the homework. How do they get that rating? Well, they get it by saying, "- (120pcs) High Intensity 5W Bridgelux/Epileds LEDs"
So, to them, since they have 120 bulbs on the fixture that have a maximum rating of 5 watts, that gives you a 600 watt fixture.
It's an outright, blatant lie as far as USEABLE power is concerned. When you look at the actual power rating of the fixture, you find this: "- Avg. Power Draw: 269W±3%
So in reality, you have at best a 275 watt light fixture.
So does it REALLY compare to a 600 watt HPS? Absolutely not. Not even in the ballpark. Hell, it's not even the same sport. And THAT is where a lot of people go wrong.
But if you do your homework you very quickly find out why the more expensive LED's are that expensive: They actually are WORTH IT because they actually have THE POWER.
A proper LED fixture in the proper setting is every bit as good as MH/HPS. The problem right now is all the misinformation around LED's with no industry standards to regulate how they're rated.
So do the homework. There's a reason those cheap LED lights are in fact so cheap.