July 26, 2005, Mountain View, CA--The high-brightness light-emitting-diode (HB LED) industry has had a remarkable history of growth. From 1995 onward, the market for HB LEDs grew at an average annual rate of 46%, reaching $3.7 billion in 2004.
In recent years, much of this growth has been driven by the increasing use of HB LEDs in mobile appliances (mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs, and so on). According to market research firm Strategies Unlimited in its recently released report, "High-Brightness LED Market Review and Forecast--2005," the mobile-appliance segment accounted for 57% of the HB-LED market in 2004.
As the mobile-appliance application begins to saturate, the HB-LED market is entering a period of growth that is slower than it has experienced historically. For the next five years, growth rates may be expected to be in the range of 10% to 15% per year, rather than the 40% to 50% that the industry has come to expect. Even with these lower growth rates, however, the HB-LED market is still expected to reach $6.8 billion in 2009, nearly twice the level of 2004. Growth will be driven by emerging applications such as illumination, automotive headlamps, and backlights for LCD (liquid-crystal display) monitors and TV screens.
The new Strategies Unlimited report is the sixth from the company on LED applications and markets. It analyzes the HB-LED market in depth, from both the demand side and the supply side, including supplier market shares. Detailed quantitative market analysis is provided, including breakouts by application and product type, in terms of units, average selling prices, and revenue. Five-year market forecasts are provided for each application and HB-LED product type.
Founded in 1979, Strategies Unlimited specializes in market research and strategic consulting directed at photovoltaic components and systems, optical networking, optoelectronic, and RF/wireless semiconductor industries. The company, based in Mountain View, California, is a research unit of PennWell Corporation.