Europe

LED market predicted to grow above 20% pear year, says Rubicon

sarafan — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:05:19 +0000

Recently, at Rubicon Technology’s 2Q08 earnings conference call with industry analysts, the company's president and CEO discussed the future of the LED market.

At Rubicon Technology’s recent 2Q08 earnings conference call, Raja Parvez, Rubicon CEO, as part of an overall introduction, predicted that the LED market is expected to continue to grow 20+% per year over the next several years. Bill Weissman, Rubicon's CFO, and Parvez added that the company’s LED revenue grew 14% year-over-year and 8% sequentially in the second quarter as applications for LEDs continue to expand.

Rubicon, which raised about $80 million from its IPO in November 2007, is a manufacturer of monocrystalline sapphire substrates used in the growth of LEDs. Since sixty percent of the company's revenue comes from the LED market, Parvez presented insight into the state of the current market. In a transcript of the conference call, Parvez related High-performance LED applications, such as large area backlight units and solid state lighting, are growing rapidly. LED backlight units are penetrating into the notebook computer and LCD TV market faster than expected, these applications are being supported by major LED chip manufacturers in Japan, Europe, and the US, and as a result, our sales continue to increase in these regions. Parvez said they are also receiving orders for 6-inch sapphire products for the LED market to support next generation LED wafer development efforts by MOCVD equipment and LED chip manufacturers, and expect this large diameter development to ramp going forward as LED manufacturers continue to increase device performance and drive LED costs down to further penetrate lighting applications.

The market in Taiwan and Korea is expected to pick up in 2009. Taiwan and Korea are in early stage development for large-diameter LED chip production and therefore remain largely focused on small diameter wafers. The LED markets in Taiwan and Korea have been affected by worldwide macroeconomic conditions, as the demand for displays and general illumination increases and also as the largest display manufacturers such as AUO and Chi Mei enter the LED market and plan to install high volume production.

Consequently, the rate of growth for lower and LED applications that utilize 2-inch diameter substrates has slowed in the past quarter. Slower than expected growth in Taiwan has increased pressure on pricing for smaller diameter products as customers strive to increase their market share.

Aixtron growth is carried by LED demand

sarafan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:41:36 +0000

It's reported that semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor Aixtron has achieved double-digit revenue growth in its Q2, despite currency and macro-economic headwind,

The company which in the first place sells machinery for the production of LEDs raised its sales in the second quarter to €65.6 million, a growth of 45 percent against the same quarter last year. Operating profit almost tripled to €8.9 million from €3.2 million last year. The gross margin, however, declined slightly to 39 percent of sales from 40 percent. Order intake rose 44 percent to €72.5 million.

Osram claims a record from R&D LED

sarafan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:25:51 +0000

It's reported Osram is claiming a record for luminous flux and efficacy from an LED driven at 350 mA.

It says that its development engineers have achieved new records for the brightness and efficiency of white LEDs in the laboratory. Under standard conditions with an operating current of 350 mA, brightness peaked at a value of 155 lm, and efficacy at 136 lm/W.

White prototype LEDs with 1 mm2 chips were used. The light produced had a color temperature of 5000 K, with color (x,y) coordinates at (0.349, 0.393).

As shown in the graph, the LEDs can be driven at 1.4 A, and produce up to 500 lm.

The key to success was a perfectly matched system of optimized chip technology, a highly advanced and extremely efficient light converter and a special high-performance package. By far, Osram has already applied for patents for the technologies that lie behind these records.

High-power Ceramos Reflector LED Powerful light for slimline displays

ivan — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:31:36 +0000

All the properties that light sources need for backlighting medium-sized LCDs (5 to 20”)
are combined in OSRAM’s new high-power Ceramos Reflector LED in its tiny package.
Developed for injecting light into a light guide, it offers high brightness and impressive
efficiency. The LED also withstands temperatures as high as 150°C and is extremely
durable with a life of up to 50,000 hours.

Thanks to ThinGaN technology, the Ceramos Reflector provides strong light, coupled with high
luminous efficacy of 70 lm/W from an operating current of 80 mA. Its small ceramic package
measures just 2.3 x 3.2 x 0.8 mm and is thermally stable, allowing high packing densities. An
oval out-coupling window enables light to be injected into thin light guides only 2 mm high. This
is in keeping with the latest trend for slimmer and slimmer displays with high luminance.
Applications include satellite navigation devices for road vehicles and aircraft and any other
displays that need to be read in bright ambient light.

These high-power LEDs are resistant to shocks and vibrations and are suitable for standard
solder processes. They do not use any mercury at all and meet the requirements of the RoHS
directive. “More and more display manufacturers are looking for an eco-friendly alternative to
cold cathode fluorescence lamps”, said Winfried Schwedler, Marketing Manager for LCD
Backlighting at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. “With our high-power LEDs such as the
Ceramos, we offer ultra-bright and efficient light sources that also save energy.”

Ferdinand Braun Institute adds AIXTRON multiwafer MOCVD for GaN LEDs

ivan — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:37:23 +0000

AIXTRON AG is pleased to announce an order from the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH) for an AIX 2600G3HT Planetary Reactor system with 8x4 inch capacity.

FBH, located in Berlin, Germany, will use the system to strengthen its research and development activities in GaN based UV- LEDs, laser diodes and GaN HFETs.

Dr. Markus Weyers, Head of the Materials Technology Department, comments: “The FBH has accumulated considerable experience with a wide range of AIXTRON MOCVD systems. We already have an AIX 2600G3HT Planetary Reactor system with 8x3 inch and 11x2 inch capacity in operation. I am therefore very confident that we can build on this to quickly and efficiently grow UV-LEDs.”

He also mentioned: “The new tool will especially allow us to prepare high temperature AlN thin films with high crystalline quality uniformly and reproducibly. We know that the AIX 2600G3 system is especially suited for the uniform and reliable growth of such challenging semiconductor materials and will make a great contribution to this exciting R&D project.”

Arcola Theatre's Low Energy Lighting

Emma — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:56:11 +0000

London's Arcola Theatre demonstrates that there is no artistic compromise required to deliver low energy naturalistic lighting for classic works. Mehmet Ergen's recent critically acclaimed production of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People which finished on April 26th was lit on under 5kW.

The challenge was to light a naturalistic piece of theatre, Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, with a peak lighting load of just 5kW. For a previous show at Arcola Theatre The Living Unknown Soldier, LED and fluorescent sources were used to cut power consumption to this level, however the colors, dimming profiles, and quality of light given from the current generation of LEDs and fluorescents makes it difficult to use them in naturalistic pieces where the lighting should go unnoticed.

Lighting designer Michael Nabarro instead used a combination of lower-wattage and lower-voltage tungsten sources provided by Selecon, ETC, and White Light. Thus the overall power draw was trimmed, without artistic compromise, because:

• While in theory lower-power sources should give commensurately less lighting effect, in practice this is not the case: in one instance, using 300W vs. 650W lamps in Selecon Acclaim luminaires yielded the lighting effect required with nearly 35% energy savings.

• The design of ETC's Source Four lamps and optics means that as well as providing the equivalent light output of a 1kW source from a 575W lamp they can be used to deliver very significant light output using just 375W lamps.

• Selecon's 1200W 80V Pacific luminaires provide the equivalent light output of a 2500W source and with a 90 degree lens can provide extensive stage coverage from a single unit.

• Selecon's 50W 12V Aureol luminaries, which are essentially high quality 'birdies' with lens tubes and light-shaping fittings, give a surprisingly large light output and thus just a small number of them can replace a much larger lamp.

Says lighting designer Michael Nabarro says, "This show has been lit on significantly less power than it might otherwise have been using traditional equipment. The quality of the finished product has not suffered and the show is in no way under lit, proof that it is possible to provide effective theatre lighting with a low energy budget."

Director Mehmet Ergen adds, "The environmental impact of all theatre productions can be reduced without artistic compromise through careful choices and creativity. I urge all directors to demand not more light and bigger set budgets but the right light and the right set."

The focus on sustainability for this production is part of Arcola Theatre's ongoing work to address the causes of climate change and environmental degradation through Arcola Energy, a multi-disciplinary project which engages the creativity of the arts and sciences to find new and exciting solutions to environmental issues. Arcola Theatre's work feeds in to the Mayor of London's ground breaking Climate Change Action Plan for Theatres.

Reactions to story from Engadget

Emma — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:22:12 +0000

NOVA 3D LED light display runs at 25fps by Nilay Patel, posted May 2nd 2008 at 5:33PM. You know we love the crazy light fixtures, and it doesn't get much crazier than the NOVA, a 3D LED display developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for its 150th birthday.

Each of the 25,000 suspended lights contains 12 LEDs, and it's capable of pumping out 16M colors at 25fps. It's on display in Zurich until September 2009 (and we hear it might make an appearance at Wired's NEXTFEST), but if you're thinking about nabbing it for yourself, you'd better bring a crew -- it weighs in at over three tons.

Chinese suppliers: LED market to grow

Emma — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:06:21 +0000

The market for light-emitting diodes is set to grow significantly throughout the year despite an economic downturn, according to Chinese suppliers.

A survey of LED light fixture suppliers carried out by Global Sources revealed that 81 per cent believed that exports would grow at ten per cent or more over the coming year.

Some 67 per cent even predicted expert sales to be even higher, with expectations reaching 20 per cent or more.

The main driver for the export growth was cited as a growing range of LED-based lighting applications.

"The use of LEDs in functional everyday lighting is moving into the mainstream, especially in developed markets. This, in turn, is fuelling product development, with Greater China manufacturers seeking to gain an edge through improved performance and application flexibility, said report publisher Spenser Au.

The growth in lighting applications was mirrored in development plans, with 59 per cent of suppliers saying they were going to focus on general lighting applications, 22 per cent working on improving optical design, 11 per cent working to develop brighter output and eight per cent who said they were going to focus on decreasing deterioration rates.

Rapid Electronics are a leading UK supplier of electronic components, electrical products and industrial equipment to the Assembly Manufacturer sector.

2008 Q1 LED NB Price and Product Analysis

ivan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:37:17 +0000

LED and CCFL NB have a price gap of 50%, but such gap is expected to narrow soon.

LEDinside recently has gathered further information about NB with LED backlight on the market. Until February 2008, prices of LED NB range from US$2,100 to US$3,100, while CCFL NB equipped with similar hardware cost $1,280 to $2,000. CCFL NB and LED NB have a price gap of at least 50% (indicated in Figure 1), says LEDinside. Although with advantages in weights, sizes and energy consumption, it is still quite costly to have an environmental, energy-saving and light LED NB.

Figure 1: Street Price of LED NB and CCFL NB, Feb-08

Since there is no 11.1-inch CCFL NB available on the market, no meaningful comparison can be made at this time; however, from 12.1-inch to 17-inch models, prices of LED NB are $1,000 higher on average than those of CCFL NB, according to LEDinside's data. Sizes do not directly correlate with differences in pricing. Evidence implies that pricing of LED NB is based on CCFL NB prices plus fixed margins.

Figure 2: LED NB & CCFL NB Street Price Comparison, Feb-08

As to NB sizes, the survey reveals that ten kinds of 12.1-inch LED NB are currently on the market, followed by 13.3, 11.1, 14.1, 15.4, and 17. 13.3-inch LED NB are still rather popular, while more and more products launched with 14.1, 15.4, and 17 inches LCD screens. This trend suggests that producers feel positive about utilizing LED NB applications in all sizes in the future.

Figure 3: Comparison of LED NB Model Number by Size, Jan-Feb 08

Except acer, LED NB has become one of major developments to almost all NB producers, including HP, DELL, Toshiba, Apple, Asus, SONY and Fujitsu. SONY has the most LED NB models (nine), followed by Apple (six), Toshiba (four) and Fujitsu (four).

SONY and Apple are both renowned for their product design. LED backlight panel can effectively reduce product weights. Because of Japanese consumers' obsession with smaller and lighter products, Toshiba and Fujitsu, two Japanese brands, launch LED NB prior to other companies.

Figure 4 : Comparison of LED NB Model Number by Brand, Jan-Feb 08

With a closer look of LED NB, LEDinside finds out that all other companies, except SONY and Apple offering three sizes, have different strategies. For example, Toshiba focuses on 12.1-inch NB, while Fujitsu on 14.1, HP on 12.1, and DELL on 13.3. This proves that these brands have distinct ideas towards major LED NB market in the future. No consensus is reached yet.

As the market becomes more concerned about environment, energy consumption and weights, the percentage of LED NB will be on the rise. AUO recently declares LED backlight will be adopted in all NB products in 2012, which clearly signals the coming of a LED NB era. Technical obstacle on light guiding plate (LGP) will be eventually overcome. When designing LED backlight panel, lower cost has become a common concern, which influences the thickness of LGP. Yield rate improvement will cut down LED backlight costs and reduce LED NB prices further. LEDinside predicts LED NB will grow prominently in models and penetration rates in 2008.

Figure 5: Comparison of LED NB Model Number by Brand and Size, Jan-Feb 08

Rabyte and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Announce India Partnership Agreement

ivan — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:53:13 +0000

Rabyte and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. announced a partnership agreement for India effective 1st, Jan 2008. This agreement involves the promotion of the complete product range of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.

As the world's second largest manufacturer of optoelectronic semiconductors for the illumination, sensing and visualization sectors, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors combines extensive know-how in semiconductors, converter materials and packages under one roof.

「OSRAM looks forward to working with Rabyte to broaden our opto semiconductor products reach and allow greater penetration into our key target markets,」 states Alfred Felder, VP Sales & Marketing Asia, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Malaysia. Rabyte possesses the technical design solutions and displays industry experience necessary to ensure optimal service and support for our valued customers with products of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.」

Mr. Rajiv Batra, Managing Director, Rabyte adds: 「We are delighted to enter into a strategic alliance with OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. This alliance will encompass design and promotion of solutions based on OSRAM products. We strongly believe that with our wide market coverage and design strength, we have the synergy and experience to expand the market reach of OSRAM products. With support from OSRAM, we are confident that we can majorly contribute in accelerated growth and achieving market leadership for OSRAM products in the India market. We look forward to a long and healthy alliance with OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.」