According to LEDinside’s “Silver Member Report,” in 1Q13 LED price for monitor backlight application fell by approximately 4%-8%, whereas LED price for TV application dropped by 3%-9%. Affected by the price cut by Korean manufacturers, average price of high power LED for lighting applications fell by 6%-9% this quarter. With the price drop continuing, the total number of LED backlights applied to middle and large sized panels is expected to peak. LED backlight application has grown from 2012’s 70% to 92% in monitors, and from 70% to 90% in TVs.

Manufacturers Look to Edge-Type and Direct-Type LED TVs as LED TV Backlight Prices Drop

As the data from LEDinside’s “Silver Member Report” shows, in 1Q13 the cost of direct-type LED BLU dropped by approximately 3%-5%, while the cost of edge-lit LED BLU decreased by 4.3%-5.3%. LEDinside indicated that due to the enlarged light guide plate, the number of optical films must be increased in order to enhance module brightness in 46-inch or larger edge-type LED backlit TVs. Such being the case, however, module cost will also increase. In 46-inch backlight modules, for example, there is a price difference of 1.5 times between edge-type BLU and direct-type BLU. This year, Korean TV brands Samsung and LG simultaneously introduced direct-type LED TVs of all sizes, accounting for over 70%. Lacking brand advantage, Taiwan’s two major panel manufacturers AU Optronics Corp. and Innolux have conservatively chosen edge-type LED backlight as the panel light source. Among China’s six major TV brands, the proportion of edge-type and direct-type LED backlight is approximately 4:6.

Affected by the rapid increase in LED TVs and chubby LED TVs, TV brand manufacturers have continued to reduce CCFL TV price in order to clear inventory. Forecasted by LEDinside, CCFL backlight module cost will fall by less than 1.5% in 2Q and only 1% in 3Q.LED TV products are already fully developed, and LED package sizes are roughly defined. Mainstream LEDs include 7020/ 7030 for edge-type LED TVs and 3528/3030 with lens for direct-type LED TVs. LED power has increased from 0.4W each to 1W-2W or more. Due to the increased brightness efficiency of LED, LED package materials shifted from PPA and PCT to the more heat-resistant EMC.

Affected by Consistent Price Drop in Medium Power LED, High Power LED Price Fell by 6%-9% in 1Q13

In terms of LED price for lighting application, medium power LED ASP fell by 7% in 4Q12 due to the price cuts by Korean manufacturers. With cost-effective medium power LED 5630 being increasingly applied in both bulbs and LED lamps, the 5630 price has continued to decline. The substantial price drop has enhanced the lighting demands in China, in turn leading to a shortage of various LED packages. 

So far, high power LED ASP has fallen by 6%-9%. LEDinside believes that the falling price is not only due to the medium power LED price cut, but also agent conversion and the manufacturers’ goal to reduce inventory before Chinese New Year Holiday. Although the lighting market demand has been slowly increasing after Chinese New Year, due to the new medium power LED introduced by Korean manufacturers, there will still be intense price competition in the LED lighting market.

Source : LEDinside

1Q13 Silver+ Member: Lighting Market Report / Silver Member Market Report Summary:

Worldwide LED Outdoor Lighting Market Forecast 

LED Outdoor Lighting Market In North American 

• Regulation, Policy, Bidding 
• Model Specification for LED Roadway Luminaires (Version 1.1) was released 
• Major LED street light installation projects in the US and Canada in 2012 
• Major Player’s Movement（Product Specification, Project） 
• Cooper Lighting: launched new outdoor product series to meet various application market needs  
• CREE: promotes new outdoor lighting product series, targeting on 1000W replacement market 
• GE Lighting: is taking over the installation project, and will install more than 40,000 street lights in Las Vegas. 

LED Outdoor Lighting Market In Europe 

• Regulation, Policy, Bidding 
• Certifications and standards regarding LED street light--- CE & ENEC 
• Benefited from ban on mercury lamp, LED street light installation projects in various European countries have started in succession 
• Major Player’s Movement（Product Specification, Project） 
• Philips: created outdoor lighting management system 
• OSRAM: promotes Street Light Control to reduce cost and improve traffic safety 

LED Outdoor Lighting Market In Japan 

• Regulation, Policy, Bidding 
• Japan is developing new LED outdoor luminaire market which focuses on lighting safety 
• Osaka plans to replace all of its 23,000 street lights with LED street lights by the end of 2013 
• Major Player’s Movement（Product Specification, Project） 
• Iwasaki: develops a complete series of outdoor lighting products 
• Toshiba: launched LED outdoor lighting applications in 2012 

LED Outdoor Lighting Market In China 

• Regulation, Policy, Bidding 
• Up to 880,000 outdoor lights are benefited from the financial subsidy, with the total subsidy amount reaching 80 million dollars. 
• Street light price keeps declining to USD 2.87 per watt. 
• With demonstration project, the LED outdoor lighting penetration rate in Guangdong has reached 16.7% 
• Major Player’s Movement（Product Specification, Project） 
• Over 20 manufacturers entered the Chinese outdoor lighting subsidy market 
• Bang-Bell and Spark: both have strong growth in 2012 

LED Outdoor Lighting Market In Taiwan 

• Taiwan’s light bulb bidding market status and analysis 
• Taiwan’s street light bidding market status and analysis 
• Leadray: installed 30K Street Lights in Taiwan 
• EOI: street Lamp Sales Hit 20,000 Units in Taiwan 
• Leotek: street Light Installed In >200 Cities of USA 
• Everlight: street Light & Industrial Lighting Applications Overview
• Appendix: Worldwide Standard And Regulation Update 

Automotive Lighting: [LED Light Guide Panel And Light Guide Bar Entered To LED Automotive Lighting Market] 

LED light guide plate is expected to gain popularity, especially in the position light as car makers can take it as a new way to make their cars to be easily recognized. Brake light and DRL, which both have higher requirement in terms of luminous intensity, light bar is oriented.

1Q13 Silver+ Member: Automotive Lighting Market Report

Summary:

• Automotive Lighting Market In 2013
• Global Car Market Sales Performance 
• DRL To Drive LED Automotive Lighting Market Demand  For Next Three Years 
• North European Regulations To Grow DRL Demand 
• Differences Between Light Guide Plate And Light Guide Bar
• Trends of Light Bar and Light Guid Bar In Rear Light Application 
• BMW and Audi Automotive Lighting Design Transformation

Backlight Market: [Worldwide Flash LED Market Demand Grows By 7% in 2013. However, Due To Decreasing ASP, Market Value Drop By 10%] 

Flash LED usage volume is expected to increase by 7% YoY to 1.2 billion units in 2013. But asp is subject to a 23% YoY drop with corresponding Flash LED market value to US$480 million (-10% YoY). 

1Q13 Silver+ Member: Backlight Market Report

Summary:

• Smartphone to Completely Overtake Feature Phone in 2013 
• Rise of Smartphone Brings Reforms to  LED Market Value in Backlight and Keypad Applications 
• Flash LED  in Mobile Market Analysis 
• 2013 LED TV Development Trend From Korean Brand Vendor’s View 
• Slim Direct-Type LED TV To Release in 2013; LED For Edge-Type LED TV Design: 108lm/W 
• Direct-Type LED TV Still Gain Momentum in 2013 
• LED ASP in TV Backlight Application in 1Q13 

If you would like to know more details , please contact:

Global：

• Joanne Wu   +886-2-7702-6888 ext. 972   joannewu@trendforce.com
• Claire Hou    +886-2-7702-6888 ext. 861   clairehou@trendforce.com

China：

• Sara Fan  +86-755-8283-8931    sarafan@sz.dramexchange.com