2010 worldwide HB LED market grew 93 percent

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: The worldwide high-brightness (HB) LED market leaped from $5.6 billion in 2009 to $10.8 billion in 2010, a growth rate of 93 percent, according to Strategies Unlimited, the leading market research firm in LEDs.

LCD monitor and TV backlights led the growth spurt, followed by mobile display applications. Ten companies accounted for more than 75 percent of the HB-LED market. Strategies Unlimited arrived at these figures after analyzing market demand as well as the supply-side activity of more than 40 HB-LED component suppliers.

The rank order, by revenue, of the top 10 suppliers in the HB-LED market in 2010 is:

1. Nichia
2. Samsung LED
3. Osram Opto Semiconductors
4. Philips Lumileds Lighting
Seoul Semiconductor
6. LG Innotek
Cree
8. Sharp
9. TG
Everlight
(Companies have the same ranking when the difference in revenue is within the margin of error. Revenue includes packaged LED sales only.)

Several paths led to this impressive growth. Samsung LED, Seoul Semiconductor, and LG Innotek rode the boom in the LCD TV and monitor backlight market. Osram rode the rise of the Chinese HB-LED market, especially in the automobile sector. Lumiled’s success in high-power backlight products, cell phone flash, and architectural lighting contributed to much of its success.

Cree’s dedicated focus on lighting ensured its continued strong position in the solid-state lighting revolution. Chinese LED suppliers captured two percent of the market. While Chinese HB-LED technologies are currently three to five years behind the rest of the world, Strategies Unlimited expects that the investment of $10.4 billion in the SSL industry by 2015 will help close the gap.

While LCD television/monitor backlights accounted for the largest part of the jump in HB-LED revenue in 2010, mobile applications were also significant contributors. In particular, the large rise in PC notebook sales and the penetration rate for LED backlights used in notebooks doubled HB-LED revenue over 2009.

Strategies Unlimited expects television and monitor backlights to continue to be a strong engine for growth in the next two years and flatten out in 2013. The overall forecast CAGR is more than 16 percent from 2010–2015.

LED luminaire design, not performance, was the primary concern for the lighting market in 2010. HB-LED component revenue for lighting was $890 million in 2010. Solid-state lighting will become the key market driver in 2014 because of the worldwide focus on energy efficiency and the phase-out of incandescent bulbs. The forecast CAGR for HB-LED components for lighting from 2010–2015 is 39 percent.