Report predicts bright future for LED market

By 2010 the market for high-brightness LEDs will enter a new phase of its evolution, according to a new report.

By 2010 the market for high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs) will enter a new phase of its evolution, according to a new report published jointly by industry research firms NanoMarkets and CIR.

The combined market for standard HB-LEDs and the new ultra-high-brightness LEDs (UHB-LEDs) will grow from $5.0 billion in 2006 to $10.8 billion in 2010 and reach $17.4 billion in 2013.

LEDs with an output greater than 250 lumens are being commercialised, making HB-LEDs a practical solution for many lighting, photographic and medical applications.

In 2010 the market for UHB-LEDs alone will total $3.6 billion.

General illumination will become the fastest growing application for HB-LEDs between now and 2010.

By 2010 much of the $3.6 billion in UHB-LEDs sold will be for general illumination applications, to which must be added an additional $860 million in regular HB-LEDs.

Because of similar market and technical requirements, displays and signage represent a natural diversification for HB-LED manufacturers currently selling into the mobile phone market.

Thanks to HB-LEDs, displays will be bigger and use less power.

OLEDs are a wild card, as OLED displays and signage will not require HB-LED backlighting.

By 2010, displays and signage will account for approximately $2.2 billion in HB-LED sales.

The report claims that new developments in materials and production technologies will help drive cost points lower and quality higher.

Among the areas discussed are the impact on HB-LEDs of silicon photonics, thin-film technology, nanotechnology and pure gallium nitride substrates, as well as the evolution of better packaging and fabrication technologies.

The report: "The global market for HB-LEDs", provides an analysis and eight-year (unit, volume and price) forecast of all major application segments for HB-LEDs.

These include mobile appliances, LCDs, automotive applications, traffic signals, signage and general illumination.

It also analyses new niche opportunities for HB-LEDs including automobile headlights, personal projectors, test and measurement equipment and various biomedical applications.

A forecast for the entire LED market is also included with breakouts of HB-LED, UB-LEDs, standard LEDs and indicator LEDs.

The report reviews the evolving strategies and market shares of companies in this market including not only market leaders - such as Cree, Lumileds, Nichia, OSRAM, and Toyoda Gosei - but promising startups and emerging players in Asia.

Data for this report was collected from extensive interviews of leading companies throughout the entire value chain, from materials providers, to LED manufacturers, to OEMs.

These interviews were carried out in Asia, Europe and North America by a multinational team.

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