According to California-based L.E.D. market research firm Strategies Unlimited in its report “L.E.D. Driver ICs – 2011”, the technology’s sales increase translates to a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent compared to 2010’s $2 billion in sales.
The production value of drivers for lighting will post a 40 percent compound annual growth rate through the period, the study adds.
Another factor for growth will be sales increase in L.E.D. lighting applications which will be brought about by the phase out of incandescent bulbs.
Strict industry and government standardized specifications for dimming, efficiency, power factor, and price will necessitate more innovations in driver design that will help take L.E.D. lighting mainstream, reduce manufacturing costs and accelerate adoption, says the report.
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Although alternating current L.E.D. products minimize and sometimes eliminate the driver, this will not have a big impact on overall revenues throughout the period until 2015. It may even help accelerate the adoption of L.E.D. lighting, the report points out.
The report noted however that the market may suffer from revenue drops due to a continued integration into fewer integrated circuits, and competition from organic L.E.D.s, compact fluorescent lamps, and other technologies.
The top 10 L.E.D. driver I.C. suppliers hold over 55 percent of revenues, with about 30 I.C. suppliers and captive manufacturers sharing the remaining 44 percent.
Texas Instruments was identified as the number one supplier of L.E.D. driver I.C.s by Strategies Unlimited.
Texas Instruments produces AC/DC L.E.D. driver controllers and DC/DC L.E.D. driver solutions with wide-input and output voltage ranges.
The company, with earnings of $3.39 billion for the first quarter of 2011, and has recently acquired power management and analog I.C. developer National Semiconductor.
An earlier study published this June by Texas-based research firm Marketsandmarkets also sees an increase in growth in the states that the global L.E.D. driver I.C. market.
According to the Marketsandmarkets report, the market is expected to grow from $1.119 billion in 2010 to $4.424 billion in 2015, at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 31.6 percent.
As in the Strategies Unlimited report, Marketsandmarkets identified government initiatives to phase incandescent bulbs as a main factor in the increased use of L.E.D. driver I.C. in a range of applications, such as in displays and lighting. The L.E.D. driver I.C. market for lighting applications will enjoy a high compound annual growth rate of 46.5 percent from 2010 to 2015.
