Several key technical issues to be solved in LED lighting applications

The situation of solid-state LED lighting is getting brighter and brighter, and its application fields are expanding globally, including indoor and outdoor lighting, automotive interiors, TVs and monitors, backlights for mobile phones and other consumer electronics, and even car headlights.

According to Ella Shum, director of LED market research at market research firm Strategies Unlimited, global packaging high-brightness LED sales surged 93% last year to $10.8 billion. Its growth is mainly due to the backlighting of TVs and monitors as well as mobile devices.

Shum pointed out that although the world is currently interested in using solid-state LED light sources for lighting, the high-brightness LED market accounted for only 8% of total sales last year. But she expects that the field of high-brightness LED lighting will grow by about 39% in 2010-2015.

ElectroniCast Consultants recently published a market research report that LED bulbs consumed in the United States last year were worth $485 million. The company predicts that this number will reach $1.64 billion in 2015 (Figure 1).