Tuesday, April 29, 2014:Even as the demand for LED lights rises in leaps and bounds with the deeper penetration of the LED light market globally, the LED chips segment is now witnessing a growth like never before. LED chips are used as the base component for any LED lighting device, therefore a visible increase in revenue for the same comes as no surprise.
The LED light industry is currently estimated to be an $80 billion industry. As such the epitaxial wafer (epi-wafers) market that is used for LED is witnessing a gradual surge and is slated to be worth $4 billion by 2020. The majority of epi-wafers constituted Gallium nitride (GaN) on sapphire, until now. These are now being replaced by GaN on silicon owing to their cost effectiveness, standing at almost 1/8th the cost of sapphire substrate. Notably, GaN on silicon is also better suited for home applications. The industry is slated to grow by 18 per cent by 2020.
Companies like CREE are making the most of the market’s love for GaN on silicon (SiC) technology. The company is making use of GaN-on-Si technology to design low-cost LED light solutions. Remarkably, 58 per cent of its revenue as per last quarter’s results were from the LED chips division. China holds the distinction of being one of the biggest markets for LED chips. It is estimated that the total LED chip revenue in China was $992 million in 2013 that is projected to reach $1,182 million in 2014.
