Lasers & Sources

Report forecasts LEDs in lighting will grow at 10% CAGR for 2012-2016

July 16, 2012

Mountain View, CA--In a new report, market research firm Strategies Unlimited estimates that the world revenue for LED packages for lighting was $2.04 billion in 2011.

Conard Holton

Mountain View, CA--In a new report, market research firm Strategies Unlimited estimates that the world revenue for LED packages for lighting was $2.04 billion in 2011. The report, The Market for High-Brightness LEDs in Lighting Applications: Market Review and Forecast-2012, says that LED prices will continue to decline at a CAGR of 13% for 2012-16. In the same period, CAGR for revenues for LEDs in lighting is forecast at 10%.

Between 2010 and 2011, LED prices declined by more than 25% and for some suppliers the decline was more than 40%. This decline in prices stimulated the demand for LED lighting products, increasing the revenue by 46.3%. LED suppliers diverted their efforts to sell to the lighting industry because of the excess manufacturing capacity and the less-than-expected growth in demand for LEDs in backlighting applications.

In 2011, all major players in the industry made a big push in the sales of multichip packages. The use of high lumen output packages help reduce the size of the light source and pack lumens in a small area while reducing the time for luminaire design development. The use of high power LEDs continues where high lumen output from compact light sources is required in applications such as streetlights, flash lights, recessed lights and PAR replacement lamps.

In the forecast period more luminaire manufacturers will use multichip packages while ambient lighting applications will use low power and mid-power LEDs for diffused lighting applications such as troffers and linear fluorescent tube replacement products. Although the demand for white LEDs increased to 84% of the total revenues, the lighting industry is increasingly using remote phosphor with blue LEDs or red LEDs with cool white LEDs to make warm white light.

China was the largest market with 49% of the revenues, with high penetration rates in outdoor, industrial, and building decoration lighting applications. With the improvements in quality of LED lighting products, retail display applications—-both refrigerated and general merchandise displays--are forecast to be the fastest growing segment.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.