China's GaN LED Production Will Outperform Japan in 2010, China Solid Lighting Alliance Says

Nov 29, 2007 20:56 Satoshi Ookubo, Nikkei Electronics

Wu Ling of the China Solid Lighting Alliance delivered a lecture at the "First International Conference on White LEDs and Solid State Lighting (White LEDs-07)," an LED-related conference held from Nov 26 to 30, 2007.

Ling said the Chinese LED market is steadily growing and reached Rmb14.6 billion in 2006. The market's average growth was a remarkable 29% per year during the period between 1997 and 2006. The market is expected to continue to expand and reach Rmb32 billion in 2010.

What supported the growth of the local LED market were models called high-luminance LEDs. The average growth of the market from 2002 to 2006 was even higher at 35% per year, with the market for high-luminance LEDs reaching Rmb 9 billion in 2006. Of the high-luminance LEDs, 40% are backlight source applications, he said.

As the Chinese LED market expanded, Chinese LED manufacturers' technologies improved as well and resulted in a larger portion of Chinese LEDs in the domestic market, according to Ling. The market used to depend on imported products as of 2002, but Chinese LEDs accounted for 43.9% of all LEDs in the local market in 2006, he added.

Regarding high value-added GaN LEDs such as blue and white LEDs, Chinese products constituted 30% of the local market for GaN LEDs in 2006. GaN LED shipments in China are increasing every year with shipments of 65 million units per month in 2003 rising to 600 million units per month in 2006.

The shipments are predicted to outperform Japanese GaN LED output at 1.65 billion units per month in 2010 and China will accordingly become the world's second largest GaN LED producing country, Ling forecast.

24 Hours | 7 Days