14 October 2016

COB LED market for lighting applications to grow at 4% CAGR from $580m in 2016 to over $700m in 2021

The global market for chip-on-board (COB) LEDs used in lighting applications – including COB products belonging to ceramic and EMC packages - will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4% from $580m in 2016 to more than $700m in 2021, according to the '2016-2021 Global LED Industry Demand and Supply Database Report' by LEDinside (a division of TrendForce).

"COB LEDs are mainly for the commercial lighting market," notes Joanne Wu, assistant research manager at LEDinside. "However, recent technological advances have improved the reliability of high-power COB products, allowing them to gradually expand into various outdoor applications such as lighting equipment for mining sites and street lighting. COB and high-power LEDs are expected to have competitive advantages in the high-end lighting applications because they have advantages that mid-power LEDs lack in terms of design and brightness," she adds.

International LED suppliers (in contrast to China-based LED suppliers) offer COB product lines that are wider ranging, notes Wu. "Moreover, they have much higher standards regarding brightness of the light and quality and reliability of products," she adds. "International suppliers also control the crucial IP related to COB LEDs, so they tend to have more customers and are chosen by major lighting exporters."

China-based LED suppliers on the other hand offer bargain prices and have a large domestic market. Also, they are developing COB LEDs with EMC packages. These products are expected to contribute to the rapid growth of revenue related to COB LEDs for lighting applications.

Japan's Citizen Electronics topped the worldwide revenue ranking of COB LED suppliers in 2015, while the USA's Cree took second place. Citizen was able to capture the largest market share via a very comprehensive product line strategy. Last year, Citizen and Cree invested heavily in high-brightness, bargain-priced COB products for specific applications, such as the 10W-and-under segment of the indoor commercial lighting market and the 50W-and-above segments of both the industrial and outdoor lighting markets. The two companies should also see significant growth in COB LED revenue in 2016 as they take their products into the horticultural lighting market.

Sharp and Bridgelux shared third place in the 2015 COB LED revenue ranking. With dual-color products and valuable patents, Sharp was able to push its COB LEDs into the commercial and medical lighting markets. Bridgelux's COB products, which are mainly for industrial lighting, are exceptional in quality, given their prices, reckons LEDinside.

Lumileds and Nichia were tied at fifth place in the 2015 ranking. By greatly expanding their product lines, both firms were able to significantly increase their COB LED revenues. Both suppliers are launching more products in second-half 2016 and are likely to again post large annual increases in their COB LED revenues.

Since 2014, Samsung has been focusing on developing COB products and making inroads into the lighting market. Consequently, the supplier significantly grew its COB LED revenue in 2015 and became the seventh largest supplier in the annual ranking.

"China-based suppliers such as Sunpu and LED Teen have been just as active as their international counterparts developing COB products," notes Wu. "Sunpo climbed to eighth place in the 2015 COB revenue ranking on the back of strong sales of its full-spectrum products for the horticultural application market. LED Teen has always been focusing on developing COB LEDs and has grown rapidly in recent years," she adds. "This year, LED Teen has improved its position in the high-end commercial lighting market by successfully launching its high-density, high-color rendering COB LED arrays."

Likewise, US-based LED maker Luminus Devices, which was acquired by China's San'an Optoelectronics in the 2013, has positioned itself as another supplier in the high-end commercial lighting market. Luminus Device currently has a production site in Xiamen, China. The plant is undergoing capacity expansion and will be an important revenue contributor, concludes the report.

Tags: LED market

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