LEDs and their target markets are changing rapidly. David Spragg looks at how distributors must evolve to meet the needs of this rapidly evolving arena.

There is nothing new about electronic distributors providing LEDs as part of a broad component linecard – for many years distributors with a semiconductor portfolio have, in general, also offered a wide variety of LED colours, styles, power ratings and brightness within their linecard. Many of these distributors have also been able to offer complementary 'silicon support' products such as LED drivers or micros with integrated LED control functionality.

What is changing, however, is the underlying LED technology itself. In addition to parts aimed at 'conventional' indication and backlighting applications, LED manufacturers are now able to create 'lighting class' devices that deliver the brightness, efficacy, lifetime, colour temperatures and white point stability required for general illumination. As a result, it is becoming commercially viable to replace traditional incandescent, halogen and fluorescent designs with LED alternatives in applications ranging from residential downlighters to automotive lighting. Indeed, analyst company Strategies Unlimited, who report that the global LED market is set to grow from $4.2 billion in 2006 to $9 billion by 2011, predicts that the annual growth rate for high brightness LEDs is set to exceed overall growth rates – rising to around 16% in the same timeframe.

The pace of technical development in the field of high brightness LEDs is illustrated in the fact that, in the last year alone, the efficacy (@350mA) of white LEDs offered by Arrow franchise Cree, has doubled from around 60 lumens to 122 lumens. This makes the company's XLamp range of white LEDs suitable for applications ranging from portable and personal lighting to indoor directional lighting and even roadway and parking area illumination. Companies such as Osram are also making advances in this area, most recently with the announcement of OSTAR headlamp LEDs.

What's more, such lighting class LEDs offer high levels of reliability and shock resistance and do not fail catastrophically like light bulbs – they can provide at least 50,000 hours of useful lifetime before they gracefully degrade below 70% of initial light output. And that’s almost six years if they are left on continuously!

A fragmented market

These advances in LED technology have fuelled fragmentation of the market and, as a result, have had a significant impact on the distributor looking to provide LED and lighting solutions. Specifically, alongside the traditional electronic design houses and OEMs looking to design their own applications from the board up, the distribution channel now has two new potential target markets.

Firstly, there are the traditional lighting manufacturers with little or no electronic engineering capabilities but who want to migrate some or all of their products to LED-based solutions. Typically these companies will have worked with incandescent technologies for many years and historically have never purchased electronic components (or have only bought them in very small quantities). Secondly, there are the 'intermediate' companies that do have some electronics expertise and some experience of electronic component purchasing, and want to do some – but not all – of the design themselves.

To meet the varying needs of customers in each of the three market segments requires an evolution of a distributor's strategy in areas ranging from the technology portfolio itself to the level and type of technical support and the availability of other value added services. And, as a long-term distributor of LEDs and a leading early adopter of 'lighting class' LEDs from companies such as Avago, Cree, Everlight, Osram, Sharp and Vishay, Arrow has considerable experience in developing an overall offering that can meet the widest possible variety of customer requirements in each segment.

The product portfolio

In terms of the product portfolio, having a linecard with a broad range of LEDs from a variety of manufacturers is clearly a very important starting point. A typical electronics OEM, for example, will expect to be able to quickly choose the optimum colours, styles, power ratings and brightnesses for their target applications.

Customers will also expect their LED supplier to offer other technologies that will be required to create a working LED solution. These may include LED drivers or (increasingly) microcontrollers with embedded LED driver capabilities, secondary optics and a host of other semiconductor, passive, connector and on-board and off-board components. OEMs working with high brightness LEDs, for example, are also likely to require their distributor to provide effective thermal management technologies and dedicated LED power supplies.

Traditional lighting manufacturers who have worked with incandescent, halogen or fluorescent technologies for many years typically have little interest in trying to assemble a discrete LED-based design. Instead, these companies are looking for products that allow them to deliver all of the benefits associated with LED technologies as quickly and as easily as possible. This leaves them free to concentrate on their own core competencies and the aspects of the design and aesthetics which can deliver maximum competitive advantage. An electronics distributor looking to address these requirements must be capable of providing real solutions – which is the approach that Arrow has taken in dealing with this target market.

Solutions approach

A solutions approach requires that a distributor has the in-house engineering resource needed to bring together all of the relevant technologies – the LEDs and the other elements such as secondary optics, thermal management, drivers and power supplies – into an application-specific solution that the lighting manufacturer can easily integrate into their design.

This type of approach should include the availability of pre-built LED modules and 'light engines' that effectively provide 'plug and play' LED light sources.

Strategies are also required for meeting the requirements of the 'intermediate' companies who wish to do a certain element of the design themselves but who do not want to work at a discrete component level.

Distributors should look to offer these manufacturers a range of intermediate and modular technologies including PCBs that are pre-populated with LEDs, secondary optics and driver modules. This modular approach, supported by development tools, starter kits and access to key information in the form of design notes, FAQs, and selection guides facilitates the rapid creation, prototyping and delivery of application-specific lighting products.

Summary

Emerging LED technologies suitable for commercial and transportation lighting applications are opening up new opportunities for electronics distributors beyond more conventional indication and backlighting. This, in turn, is leading to a larger, yet more fragmented market comprising not just traditional OEM design customers but also 'end user' customers with little or no electronics design expertise and 'intermediate' organisations who want to keep discrete design to a minimum.

As well as offering a broad portfolio of LEDs and supporting components, distributors wishing to satisfy the needs of all of these target markets must be able to provide real 'plug-and-play' solutions backed up by technical support and development tools that ensure trouble-free migration to LED-based technologies.