LEDs & LED Displays

More than 30 percent of the world's LED and LED display output is made in mainland China and Taiwan. This report identifies the key players and helps you choose which best meet your sourcing needs.

You'll receive deep profiles of 16 leading suppliers, giving an inside look at their production capabilities, export capacities and future plans.

Plus, you'll get short company profiles of 32 other major producers, and profile tables comparing another 24 top companies.

In addition, you'll benefit from a comprehensive industry overview that shows how recent market trends are impacting manufacturers in mainland China and Taiwan, and how these will influence your sourcing decisions in the months ahead.

What you'll get

In-depth profiles of 16 key LED and LED display manufacturers. Based on factory tours and interviews with senior managers, this information is not available anywhere else

Short profiles or profile tables of an additional 56 suppliers, with key information such as production capacities, certifications, main export markets and more

Background information that helps you shortlist manufacturers that supply to such major buyers as BenQ, Panasonic, Ricoh, Sony and Toshiba

Quick-to-use summary listings covering all featured suppliers, with easy-to-compare statistics as well as verified contact details

How you'll benefit

Get an in-depth look at which LED and LED display producers are planning factory expansions over the next 2 years

Identify mainland China manufacturers that are successfully addressing heat-dissipation issues and improving LED luminosity

Pin-point Taiwan suppliers that have obtained patents and IPR in the US, Germany, South Korea and mainland China for white LED technology

Discover which manufacturers are currently operating at full capacity and which are capable of meeting your additional order requirements

Executive summary

Demand for LEDs and LED displays is expected to grow at a healthy pace over the next 2 years. This year, demand is forecast to reach 26 billion units; in 2005, 34 billion units; and in 2006, 44 billion units. Against a backdrop of a flourishing optoelectronic segment, both Taiwan and mainland China are taking steps to expand their share of the global market.

Last year, Taiwan produced an estimated US$1 billion worth of LEDs, registering a 30 percent annual growth rate consecutively over the past four years. As for mainland China, 2003 LED sales revenues reached US$1.81 billion; sales turnover was US$605 million during the first quarter of 2004 alone.

Taiwan's LED industry accounts for 25 percent of the world's supply of LEDs and LED displays.

Mainland China's output represents 12 percent. Mainland China has an estimated 500 LED manufacturers, concentrated mainly in Fujian, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong (which is home to more than 60 percent of the mainland's LED makers). Taiwan, on the other hand, has a 50-company strong LED industry.

Mobile phones are the strongest demand driver for mainland China- and Taiwan-made color/white LEDs and high-brightness LEDs. Due to the sustained growth in the mobile-phone segment worldwide, LED makers are ramping up production capacities and investing heavily in R&D and production equipment upgrades. For LED displays, top target application segments are indoor/outdoor public displays and traffic lights.

Both Taiwan's and mainland China's LED industries offer all types of LED products: high-brightness LEDs, infrared LEDs, color/white LEDs, chip LEDs, LED indicators, LED lamps, LED displays and LED lights/cluster lamps. The majority of mainland China-based makers produce standard LEDs, while a significant minority have the capability to produce high-end LED products. However, the mainland's industry is taking concrete steps toward strengthening its capability to mass-produce high-end LED products as well. For instance, high-brightness LEDs currently represent 30 percent of mainland China's overall LED output. Mainland production of high-brightness LEDs increased by 50 percent year-on-year in 2003 to 3 billion units.

With its more mature technology, Taiwan, on the other hand, is taking its LED capabilities to the next level, focusing more on product development and technology enhancement. More of its LED makers are applying for intellectual property rights for their in-house developed manufacturing technologies and raw materials.

Product development efforts continue to focus on raising power output, improving luminosity and extending product life. In the short term, more high-power LEDs are expected to be introduced over the next few years. As for LED displays, Taiwan and mainland China makers are concentrating on improving their brightness, widening viewing angles and making them in full-color and in varying sizes.

Industry overview

Apart from being the second largest manufacturing base for LEDs and LED displays, China has also become a sourcing center for high-end and highly innovative LED products. The LED industries of mainland China and Taiwan are supplying 37 percent of the global LED and LED display market (mainland China, 12 percent; Taiwan, 25 percent), quickly catching up with Japan's 48 percent and surpassing the 14 percent share of the US.

According to the China Optics and Optoelectronics Manufacturers Association (COEMA), mainland China's LED sales revenues reached US$1.81 billion last year, achieving 25 percent year-on-year growth from 2002's revenues of US$1.45 billion. In Q1 of 2004, mainland China's LED sales revenues already reached US$605 million. Meanwhile, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) reports that the production value of Taiwan's LED industry has achieved nearly 30 percent annual growth over the past 4 years.

Taiwan's LED industry is made up of about 50 LED manufacturers, many of which have followed the trend of establishing production facilities in the mainland. The Top 5 Taiwan LED makers include Lite-On Technology, Everlight Electronics, Harvatek, Bright LED Electronics, and Unity Opto Technology.

Mainland China, on the other hand, has about 500 LED makers, concentrated mainly in Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Guangdong hosts more than half of mainland China's LED manufacturers. Most of the exportoriented manufacturers are located in Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

Taiwan's LED industry offers all types of LED products, and as it goes to the next level, most makers are now focusing on higher-end LED products, such as high-brightness (HB) LEDs, infrared LEDs, white LEDs and chip LEDs, leaving the mass production of standard-LED products to mainland China.

Presently, a majority of mainland China's LED makers specialize in the manufacture of LED indicators, color LEDs, LED lamps, LED displays and LED lights/cluster lamps. However, a number of local makers are venturing as well into higher-end LED products such as blue LEDs.

LED display segment remains strong
Over the last decade, strong demand from commercial signage and traffic lights has compelled hundreds of makers in the mainland to enter the LED display line. Later on, however, majority dropped out due to intense competition.

In the end, though there are still about 100 makers who offer LED displays, only about 10 companies are capable of mass production and research.

Despite this contraction in the supplier base, mainland China's LED displays segment still accounts for 20 to 30 percent of the region's overall LED industry, having a production value of about US$350 million. It has also managed to grow by 20 percent yearon- year.

Today, indoor and outdoor display signages and traffic lights remain to be the biggest demand drivers of mainland China-made LED displays.

Samples of supplier profile

A-Bright Ind. Co. Ltd
Established in 2000, A-Bright Ind. Co. Ltd specializes in the manufacture of LED products, including infrared LEDs, super-bright LEDs and white LEDs, and LED displays. A-Bright infrared LEDs are available in three forms: regular LED lamps, surface-mount LEDs and high-power infrared LEDs. About 70 percent are lamp models, while SMDs account for 20 percent.

At present, nearly 80 percent of A-Bright's sales come from visible LEDs, while infrared LEDs account for the remaining 20 percent. Last year, the company reported sales revenues amounting to US$2 million. Meanwhile, overseas sales account for 50 percent of the company's total turnover. Among its major clients include CCTV manufacturers in Malaysia and South Korea.

Manufacturing capability
A-Bright has 2 factories in Taipei and one joint-venture production center in Mainland China. At present, the company produces its infrared LEDs in its ISO 9002-certified Taiwan factory, which can turn out 200 million units monthly. In addition, A-Bright has a monthly production capacity of 40 million LED lamps. Its Guangdong facility, on the other hand, focuses on visible LED production. The company has a workforce of 500 employees.

Product development
Last year, A-Bright released its IrDA-enabled infrared LEDs, designed for wireless communications applications. These are considered to be one of the next demand-drivers for Taiwan's infrared LEDs.

Among the company's best-sellers is the super-bright MR16 LED-bulb series designed for tracking light and down lighting applications. Available in red, yellow, green, blue and white, the series has 12 units of 4.8mm or 5mm LED lamps and offer a viewing angle of 30 or 60.

The company sees a bright future for LED lamps as a lighting source because of their longer life, low power consumption, brightness and compact sizes. Expecting a 50 percent growth in demand this year, the company is releasing new LED lamps, with focus on higher-power products, targeted at CCTV applications and in remote controllers, digital still cameras and smoke detectors.

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