I guess one factor in this "1000 times more efficient" scam is the higher photon output per surface area. LEDs efficiency drop a lot when maximizing photon per surface area. Edge emitting blue lasers have a much better power conversion rate than LEDs when driven at higher input power.
The much better photon/surface area plus higher input power create a much narrower and brighter beam. Therfore only ~10% loss opposed to ~30% with LEDs...