Resources from a new European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) report has shown that the HB-LED market made a 7% increase on a year-to-year basis in 2011.

According to the new report "LEDs: The 2011 Market Review," in 2011, the market volume for high brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs) reached $12 billion, a 4.3% growth over 2010. Although the demand for LED BLU (back light unit) systems is still growing, the demand for LED chips is falling.

Fewer LEDs are needed to realise a BLU and with the cost per LED also dropping, revenues attributed to LEDs for each display screen are dropping rapidly.

The production of BLU based on LEDs should continue to rise through 2014. The demand for LEDs to produce edge-lit BLU has peaked and will settle at about 70% of its maximum value in 2010-2011.

The European Photonics Industry Consortium has utilized the EPIC Bellwether Index of key companies to indicate the commercial development of solid-state lighting in general.  And the Bellwether companies showed rather different levels of performance in 2011. For example, lighting systems companies like Philips and Zumtobel developed well, while chip manufacturers like Epistar and Cree showed mixed results. Scale-back of MOCVD purchases due to slowing demand in the back lighting market, and the end of purchase subsidies by the Chinese government have  an important influence on Aixtron.