LED Backlighting Drives Double Digit Growth for DTV Semiconductors in 2011
El Segundo, Calif., February 22, 2011—Driven by the vibrant light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting segment, the global digital TV (DTV) semiconductor market is expected to expand by a robust 16.5 percent in 2011, according to new IHS iSuppli research.
Revenue in 2011 for DTV semiconductors is projected to reach $15.5 billion, up from $13.3 billion in 2010. Without the high-performing market for LED backlights used in liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions, growth of the overall DTV semiconductor space in 2011 would amount to just 4.1 percent.
Revenue will continue to rise during the next few years, hitting $19.0 billion in 2014, as shown in the attached figure.
The strong rise in the LED backlighting chips this year contrasts with the decelerating growth in the overall DTV semiconductor market. This year’s DTV semiconductor growth will amount to half the 33 percent expansion rate recorded last year, when the market rebounded from an anemic 2009 that was hamstrung by the economic crisis. The LED segment, on the other hand, continues at a blistering pace, jumping 138.4 percent from $1.3 billion in 2010 to an anticipated $3.1 billion this year.
“The disparity in growth between the overall DTV semiconductor market and the LED backlighting segment points to divergent dynamics in the television space today,” said Randy Lawson, manager and principal analyst for display and consumer electronics at IHS. “On one end of the continuum, the slowdown of the DTV semiconductor market mirrors the general deceleration of growth in the worldwide television market, particularly in the United States and the European Union. It also reflects the decline in average selling prices of television semiconductors. The opposite side of the spectrum, however, exhibits a vigorous, ever-expanding LED backlighting segment within the industry—borne by the continued transition among manufacturers to feature the new technology in product offerings, as well as by the adoption among consumers of fashionable, ultra-thin LED sets into their homes.”
LED backlighting chips will generate $5.5 billion in revenue and be present in more than 80 percent of all flat-panel televisions by 2014, a far cry from $370 million in 2009 when they were available in less than 3 percent of models in the market, IHS iSuppli research shows.
All told, numerous new technologies and features in addition to LED backlighting are being implemented in flat-panel TV sets that will serve to fuel growth of the DTV semiconductor market. Among them are the adoption of 3-D technology, frame-rate conversion to 120Hz and 240Hz, wireless connectivity and Internet media playback.
In particular, the broader adoption of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, will represent a new area of opportunity for semiconductor suppliers.
Learn more about the latest developments in the home & consumer electronics market with Lawson’s latest report, entitled LED Lights the Way to Growth in 2011 for TV Semiconductors.
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