More than 30 local LED manufacturers yesterday launched the LED Lighting Industry Alliance, which aims to facilitate information exchange among member firms and offer suggestions to the government regarding the industry.
The nation’s leading LED manufacturers such as Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子), Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達電子), Formosa Epitaxy Inc (璨圓光電), Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) and Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) are among the participants.
The alliance was previously known as the LED Street Lighting Industry Alliance, when it was established last year through the assistance of the government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
“We have made our first step in standardizing and advancing the industry’s streetlight products and are now moving toward promoting LED lights for indoor use,” the director of ITRI’s Green Energy and Environmental Research Laboratories, Alex Tong (童遷祥), who is also convener of the alliance, said at a press conference.
Tong said about 35,000 mercury vapor street lamps have been replaced with LED lights since December last year, and there are still 320,000 lights to be replaced over the next two years.
According to the institute, the LED lighting industry’s compound growth rate could reach 32 percent between 2010 and 2020.
By 2020, the global LED lighting market could be worth as much as 55 billion euros (US$72.74 billion), while LED lighting devices’ penetration rate could reach 50 percent and the LED lighting devices systems’ market value could total 36.6 billion euros, Tong said.
Supported by government policies and ongoing economic development, China will be the biggest LED lighting market, he added.
The ITRI said the output of Taiwan’s LED industry accounts for 19 percent of global production making it the third-largest LED supplier.
Looking ahead, the alliance remains upbeat.
“We forecast the macroeconomy will turn positive and the LED industry’s sales performance will improve next year,” Formosa Epitaxy chairman’s office assistant, Chien Yu-mei (簡玉美) said.
Tan Chang-lin (譚昌琳), chief executive officer of TSMC Solid State Lighting Ltd (台積固態照明), also forecast that the LED lighting industry will grow rapidly next year, driven by commercial lighting and the solid-state lighting businesses.
Regarding LED backlighting, Tan said growth is slowing, and even if LED TV shipment grow next year, demand for LED-backlit LCD displays will decrease, he said.
Overall, he estimated sales of LED-backlit products will remain flat next year, but LED lighting devices will grow substantially, at least by 30 percent year-on-year.
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