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Annual LED sales for Toyoda Gosei Co Ltd of Aichi, Japan (the world’s second-largest maker of LEDs for screen backlighting) may almost double in two years, from 16bn yen last fiscal year to about 30bn yen ($270m) in the year ending March 2009, forecasts the firm’s president, Takashi Matsuura, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Toyoda Gosei is betting that demand will surge with Apple Inc and Sony Corp beginning to sell LED-equipped notebook computers. Toyoda is seeking a bigger share of a market that research firm iSuppli Corp estimates will double to $12.3bn and provide a light source for 24% of the world’s laptop computers sold in 2012, compared to just 1% in 2007.

Last year, 72% of Toyoda Gosei’s LED sales were for mobile phones. However, the firm is now targeting LED products for laptops and TVs because they are more profitable, Matsuura says. The firm is winning customers with brighter LEDs geared for laptop screens and plans to introduce backlights for flat-panel televisions, Matsuura adds.

Toyoda Gosei may also offer products for car navigation displays. The firm, which is 43%-owned by Toyota Motor Corp and generates more than 90% of its revenue from automotive parts, is also benefiting from its parent company’s growth in China, helping sales in the Asia-Pacific region rise 60% in the first half of the year.

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