The LED industry is a growing industry; the LED (Light Emitting Diode) has proven itself to be an effective substitute for traditional bulbs. The main production and consumption of LEDs are in the USA, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China and South East Asia.
The application of High Brightness LEDs are in Illumination, Signals, Automotive, Mobile appliances, Signs and Displays.
The use of High Brightness LEDs for the purpose of lighting is fastest growing application. The market of LED lights in itself is highly fragmented, and it encompasses particularly niche applications. The 2006 market for High Brightness LEDs used in lighting was determined to be around USD $ 205 Million. In the market applications of LED for lighting purposes; the architectural is growing at the highest rate (37%). The LED market for lighting purposes is expected to increase to USD $ 1 Billion in 2011. Although majority of the LED applications are using RGB, it is expected that the White LED will comprise of 60% of the complete market in 2011.
The main features which have been in favor of LED applications or Solid State Lighting (SSL) has been its Visual Appeal, Long lifetime, lack of heat radiation, low-voltage operations. It is expected that in then near future, the LED will be an integral component of the following applications: architectural, portable consumer products, Residential, Retail Display, Entertainment, Solar powered Solutions.
The major success story has been the adoption of Wal-Mart of LED refrigerated display case lighting; this is part of Wall-Marts “green strategy”. The main feature has been the energy and maintenance savings, the display cases are intelligent enough to turn dim, in periods of low traffic. Due to this other superstores are likely to follow this strategy of Wal-Mart hence increasing the importance of SSL and subsequently the LED.
The challenges for LED include, the high initial cost, alternatives which may provide such efficiency, ease of installation and development of LED standards.
It will be essential that substantial marketing is carried out in order to penetrate the conventional market and for that reason penetration has to proceed gradually from application to application.