HB-LED supplier count tops 100

06 Dec 2005

More than 100 companies are now selling high-brightness LEDs at different levels of the supply chain, says a new report.

From Compound Semiconductor

More than 100 companies now produce high-brightness (HB) LEDs at various levels of the vertical supply chain.

That’s according to the latest analysis of the industry by the market research firm Strategies Unlimited.

While the $3.7 billion market for packaged HB-LEDs (the figure for 2004) was dominated by just a handful of key suppliers, there is still room for new companies to fill niches with novel device packaging or structures, says the report.

Bob Steele, the analyst company’s director of optoelectronics programs, says that out of a total of 30 companies selling epitaxial wafers and/or HB-LED chips into the market in 2004, the top three suppliers accounted for over half of the sales of these materials.

In the latest report, Steele adds that the HB-LED industry is yet to become highly integrated. Out of the 74 companies analyzed, only 12 are vertically integrated from epiwafers and chip production through to the packaging stage.

And while 26 of the companies profiled in the report produce only epiwafers or chips, this does not represent the biggest single group, with 36 firms identified to be purchasing chips and producing packaged HB-LEDs.

Asia remains the dominant geographical region in terms of production, accounting for 76% of the packaged HB-LED market and 57% of merchant epiwafer and chip sales in 2004.

”In spite of some industry consolidation,” said Steele, pointing out the recent merger between Taiwan-based Epitech and South Epitaxy and the impending union of Epistar and United Epitaxy Company, “we can expect to see new HB-LED suppliers continue to enter the market.”

The analyst believes that new packaging concepts and structures such as photonic crystals are the most likely innovations to see a new company challenge the established suppliers.

”Although it is more than ten years old, the HB-LED industry is far from mature. New companies with new ideas will continue to help propel the industry to new frontiers in both technology and applications,” concluded Steele.

"High-Brightness LED Global Supplier Analysis" is available now from Strategies Unlimited.