LED markets: the battle is on
LED markets: the battle is on
About a year ago, Philips and HP announced that they would be cooperating in the light-emitting diode (LED) market through the newly formed Netherlands-based Lumileds. Now, Osram and GE Lighting have followed suit by making aggressive investments in joint ventures for LEDs. In early 1999, Osram and its parent Siemens announced the formation of a new, very large joint venture called Osram Opto Semiconductors. Shortly thereafter, GE Lighting announced that they were undertaking a joint venture with the New Jersey, USA-based company Emcore Corporation. The new GE joint venture has the name GELcore LLC.
Philips-HP-owned Lumileds initially set out for the booming traffic signal market through the development of high luminance (i.e. high surface brightness) LEDs. Lumileds has always been cautious about their marketing, and it was not until recently that Philips indicated their products could be used in other applications as well.
Osram's LEDs appear to be more adapted to display lighting, at least in an initial stage. Osram also put on a large show at the Hannover Fair in April 1999, and the promotional material distributed at the fair, indeed, featured their LEDs. By teaming up with Siemens' semiconductor division, the new joint venture rather quickly had a functioning infrastructure. The new company employs more than 2000 people, and in the press, Osram's CEO Wolf-Dieter Bobst has said that he believes the new joint venture will shortly become a major source of revenue. In fact, he foresees white LEDs entering the market for general lighting "within a few years". This view differs markedly from that regarding CFLs and induction lighting: Bobst has stated that he thinks the massive investments in CFL "look-alikes" were wrong since sales have been disappointingly low. He also has admitted that the induction lamp, Endura, has had problems making it commercially.
As for the GE joint venture, they are less clear concerning their LED strategy. GE Lighting has stated, however, that the aim is to produce high-brightness white and colored LEDs for use in automotive lighting, signals, flat panel displays, and other "specialty applications". The infrastructure is clearly there. Emcore is known as a leading manufacturer of gallium-nitride-based components and offers expertise in the area of production and materials. GE offers strong brand recognition and a sales organization.
And where is the efficiency? In signal lighting and, most likely, in display lighting, LEDs are clearly very efficient alternatives. They are especially interesting when it comes to achieving total cost reductions since their maintenance costs are potentially very low. In the area of general lighting, they may, indeed, produce very efficient solutions. But in order to do so, thorough analysis and careful design are needed, as well as further improvements in the LED efficacy. And once that stage has been passed, OEM manufacturers must move in with solutions acceptable to the market.
Nils Borg