2007 LED Market Review: Auto Lights, Backlights and Special Lighting

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With industry restructuring and energy-saving awareness, LED applications have extended to handset backlights, auto lighting, notebooks, LCD TV and even indoor lighting. However, several challenges remain. LED for notebooks are still waiting for technical breakthroughs, and only first-rate manufacturers have the capability to produce LCD TV with LED backlights. Affected by budget cell phone program inventory, LED market in 2006 was mediocre, and the legacy has lasted to 2007.

Auto LED market is expanding fast. LED for car lights are projected to increase from US$400 million in 2003 to US$800 million in 2008. As the industry focuses on white LED, it has become a powerful force behind the market. In fact, LED can replace everything that shines. It has long been used on decoration lighting, and it has been tested as traffic lights since 1992. Some are included in public procurements, some are seasonal products sold at the end of each year, and some are handicrafts, such as those produced in Tokushima, Japan. This is a huge and diversified market with rising demand in the future.

Cell phone buttons and screens all need high-brightness blue and white LED. This amounts to almost 50% of the LED market. Although decreasing, this is still one of the major components in the industry. As LED market for handsets matures, manufacturers are looking for new territories.

In 2007, large-size TV and LCD monitors are emerging markets for high-brightness blue and white LED. The LED market share of RGB backlights and white backlights are steadily increasing. Unit price of 1W white LED for large-size LCD monitors is expected to drop to less than US$1 at the end of this year, which will increase the application rate. It still takes time to see CCFL backlights to be widely replaced by LED backlights due to several obstacles, such as this technology is under development, yield rate and productivity require improvement, and not all manufacturers are able to meet quantity requirements for LCD TV and monitors. LED backlight application on NB panels is estimated to reach 30% in 2008.

As to other LED applications, high-brightness LED with different colors is adopted in automobiles, decorations, traffic lights, street lights, etc. With rising productivity, falling prices, and technical standards lower than LED backlights, these products will expand their market shares at a faster pace in 2008.