LED lighting chip technology to change the lighting market

Lighting is the future of the chip.

Light-emitting diode (LED) - small, light embedded on a chip, over the years has been used as power sound or coffee machine indicator. Now, its scope of application continues to expand, is changing the pattern of the global lighting industry, no less than the impact of the invention of neon and other gas light bulb after World War ii.

The rise of LED has brought many new opportunities and challenges for the three multinational companies in the lighting industry, they are the Royal PHILPS electronics Limited by Share Ltd (Philips Electronics N.V.), Osram GmbH and General Electric (General Electric Co.). For more than a century, every step of the development of lighting bulbs are the shadow of these companies.

Traditional light bulb is in a vacuum tube into a electrified filament. The LED is a semiconductor chip, a power will shine. The color of light depends on the metal used in the chip. Like a computer chip, LED can be very small, and some are even as big as a fingernail. Through the software programming, but also can control its luminous time, football field flashed the player information is a huge screen of this technology.

Is the first push LED into the flexibility of ordinary light bulbs incapable of action areas. Now, in some segments of the lighting market, LED figure is more common.

This is because the LED power consumption is lower than that of many other types of lamps, the service life is long, about ten years than most lamps. In addition, the same as other types of chips, manufacturers in the material and technological progress has led to chip costs continue to decline, performance continues to improve.

America LED industry market research firm Strategies Unlimited analyst Robert Steele said, it will open and renovate our new ideas for lighting.

Right now, LED is the most widely used mobile phone keypad for background light and liquid crystal display. Secondly, it is used in automobile, building lighting and new traffic lights. It is estimated that this year, various types of new products used in high brightness LED sales will reach $4 billion to $5 billion, an important component of the value of $26 billion in the lighting industry. With the use of LED in the TV and even some home appliance products continue to promote, is expected before 2010 LED sales will increase to $10 billion.

Ford (Ford Motor Co.) launched a new Mustangs on the use of the LED dashboard, a total of more than 100 kinds of colors for customers to choose from. Boeing (Boeing Co.) is also prepared in the new 787 dream aircraft (Dreamliner) on the interior of the use of LED, to create a favorable lighting environment, to help those long-distance cross-country passengers to better adjust the time difference. In some of the fastest growing cities in China, traffic lights are no longer used in the traditional red and yellow green three bulbs in turn, but by a LED device according to the situation of different colors.

PHILPS lighting company the world's highest income -- has started selling LED flameless candles. In addition, PHILPS is also trying to apply to the current shade of the LED bulb, the bulb can control the switch and color.

The rise of LED is rewriting the lighting industry pattern, provide some special parts of the company came into being, change rise like the 80s personal computer when the computer industry experience. Japan's Nichia Chemical Corp. and Cree Inc., North Carolina, both produce LED chips that are sold to companies that produce finished lamps. On the Asian market, Inc. (Energizer Holdings) LED light packaging some are labeled "LED by Nichia" mark, as the computer hit the "Intel Inside" as eye-catching.

Some startups have to grab the opportunity in the rapid development of market segments. Canada's Carmanah Technologies Corp. attempts to put the LED and solar panels together to replace the sea buoy lights. The company also opened up the aviation market, the deployment of troops in Afghanistan and other places to sell easy to install runway lights.

This technology also promote the largest scoreboard manufacturer Daktronics Inc. developed a variety of outdoor logo products, some of which are also used in the New York Times Square (Times Square) and London Piccadilly (Piccadilly Circus). LED is also taking the place of the incandescent light bulb that has been used in high school. Daktronics chief executive Tim Changji Morgan (Jim Morgan) said, LED products more cost saving, higher efficiency.

For the fiscal year ended April 29th, Daktronics revenue surged 34% to $309 million, compared with $125 million in 2000 more than doubled. In the production of the largest screen LED competition, Daktronics just beyond the Asian competitors Lighthouse Technologies Ltd. Two months ago, Daktronics for Miami's Stadium (Dolphin Stadium) produced a total of two meters wide LED screen, more than the production of Lighthouse stands in the streets of Hongkong, the city's 40 meter wide LED screen.

First LED production in 1962, but for decades, LED technology has been unable to be reused. Nichia and Cree in 90s to expand the color of the LED category, breaking the traditional red and yellow color, which changed the state of the LED market in one fell swoop. Technical breakthrough in 1993, Nichia lead, followed by Cree, developed a blue LED, since the deployment of any color is no longer a problem.

Large manufacturing enterprises quickly noticed this change. 1999, general electric and chip maker Emcore Corp. formed a joint venture GELcore, return to the LED industry. Vice president of sales and marketing, general electric commercial and industrial lighting