LEDs poised to capture market share

13 Dec 2002

The market for high-brightness LED lighting will grow to $500million by 2007.

The market for high-brightness (HB) LEDs lighting will grow from today's figure of USD 85 million to over USD 500 million in 2007, according to a new report from Strategies Unlimited.

Automotive applications

The report, titled "Solid-State Lighting: A new growth opportunity for high-brightness LEDs", says that the total HB LED market grew by 50% per year between 1995 and 2001 reaching a value of USD 1.2 billion at the end of this period.

The firm says this growth is thanks to improvements in efficiencies and lower device costs. As a result, HB LEDs have penetrated a number of niche markets such as traffic lights and interior and external lighting in cars.

The report concentrates mainly on the applications of colored HB LEDs and how these will develop in the next five years. "It describes near-term markets where HB LEDs can grab a foothold and really see rapid growth," Bob Steele of Strategies Unlimited told Optics.org. "LEDs are already finding uses in specialist applications. This growth will pave the way for penetration on LEDs into the general illumination market."

Although it is still early days for white LEDs in terms of replacement lighting, the document does provide an economic analysis of how these devices could fit into the general illumination market. "It gives a guide to the government initiatives that are currently being discussed and implemented," says Steele.

HB LEDs potentially offer a range of advantages. Not only could the devices lead to huge energy savings over conventional technologies such as incandescent and fluorescence lamps, they also have longer lifetimes and offer improved reliability, compact packaging and flexible optical designs.

The 171-page document also describes the technologies underlying the market and the key factors which are driving market growth. Priced at USD 4450, the report is now available from Strategies Unlimited. Further information and a table of contents can be found on the company's website.

Author
Jacqueline Hewett is news reporter on Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.