Market analyst says that LED revenues from notebook PCs will surpass $800 million next year.

Jamie Fox, a market analyst at UK-based IMS research, said that the proliferation of notebook PCs backlit with LEDs will deliver annual revenues of $800 million to chip makers next year. He describes the ramp as "explosive".

"Dell has already publicly committed to using LEDs in all [of its] notebooks by 2010, and other manufacturers are also committed to a surge in LED notebook backlighting in 2009 and 2010," said Fox.

Fox is expecting the $200 million worth of last year to exponentially grow in 2009 and 2010, as the market for LEDs in notebooks doubles year-on-year.,

He also predicts that market penetration of LEDs in notebooks will reach 50 per cent by 2010, compared with 10 per cent in 2008. Notebooks typically require between 60 and 70 LED chips, he estimates.

The one down side, according to the analyst, is that the market for LEDs used in notebook PCs will saturate rapidly after the next two or three years of explosive growth. And at that point, revenues from TV applications and general lighting are expected to ramp up quickly.