LED lights are based on semiconductor modules and release less discharged heat as compared to fluorescent and incandescent products. LED lights are utilized across numerous end-user industries such as commercial, industrial, outdoor, and architectural. Profile ration of LED in applications such as traditional lightings has given a solid thrust to the lightings market. LED is anticipated to surpass the conventional compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) lighting market as it delivers high level of illumination, long life, high reliability, and high efficiency. In addition, LED lighting is a cost effective solution over conventional lighting applications such as CFL and CCFL.

The global LED market is segmented by technology, namely: traditional LED, high brightness LED, organic LED, polymer LED, and ultra violet LED. The global LED market is further segmented by applications, into automotive, general lighting, display screen, backlight sources, forensic &research, and government. Furthermore, the global LED market is also segmented on the basis of product types into low power product and high power product. Lastly, the global LED market is also segmented by installation type as new installation and retrofit.

The initial capex required for LED lighting is huge and this is restricting its initial acceptance. However, considering the longer lifetime of LEDs, the overall cost of the same is low when matched to CFLs. Incandescent lamps utilize extra energy than LED lamps; therefore, numerous governments have introduced laws to restrict their use. Moreover, non-commercial LED market drivers include actions implemented to back usage of LED lighting systems at the legislative level, and improvement of standards and regulations for running energy-saving lighting systems at the individual organization stages. LED lighting is environment friendly, as it does not produce toxic gases. For instance, fluorescent lights emit toxic bi-products like carcinogenic, which cause cancer, whereas incandescent lamps emit huge volumes of carbon dioxide. However, LED lighting overcomes these shortcomings with better reliability and better illumination.

It is expected that the consumers will gain awareness regarding the aids of longer life of LED and ultimately would lead to a widespread adoption of LED lighting during the forecast period. Declining prices of LED lamps, growing display backlighting applications, longer life span and high efficacy of LED lamps are key factors propelling the global LED market. LED lighting offers enormous prospects to save energy intake across residential, outdoor and architectural applications. Additionally, outdoor LED lighting is further gaining popularity for usage in tunnels, traffic lights, roadways, parking lots and garages. Residential applications for LED lighting consists of lighting in kitchens, dining rooms, hallways, and bathrooms.

Cree, Inc., Epistar Corp., Nichia Corporation, OSRAM Light AG, Siemens AG, Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Lumileds Lighting are the chief LEDmarket players globally. Other prominent vendors of this market include General Electric, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Bridgelux, Inc., SemiLEDS Corporation, Seoul Semiconductors Co., Ltd., and Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. Both, Siemens and Phillips, have bifurcated their lighting work from their core business to enable faster response to market dynamics and to achieve greater revenues. In addition, General Electric has taken steps to initiate manufacturing its own LED circuit panels, which could prove to be an effective strategy for their lighting business in the future.