According to Strategies Unlimited, backlighting will comprise a larger portion of the modules market through 2018, at which point saturation and an increased usage by luminaire makers of third party LED modules will allow for the lighting market to surpass it. Revenues for LED modules in lighting applications are expected to have a CAGR of 32.8% and reach a total value of US$7.8 billion by 2019.
The lighting end applications that will see the largest growth in LED modules will be troffers, area lights, and street lights. According to Stephanie Pruitt, research analyst at Strategies Unlimited, "The large installed base of troffers and high/low bay luminaires means that although the penetration of modules within LED troffers and LED area lights is lower than for downlights, the sheer size of the installed base means more potential for LEDs and strong growth for LED modules."
Prices for LED modules in lighting will fall as the overall price of the luminaire also falls. However, it is anticipated that as LED modules continue to evolve, allowing for simplified design and production as well as interchangeability, they will make up a larger portion of the overall luminaire cost. According to Pruitt "What we are seeing now is a split in the market between basic packaged LEDs on a PCB to really high-end modules which also have optics and thermal management on board. Currently there is not much standardization in the market and so the majority of makers are producing modules on a custom basis. As the LED lighting market continues to grow, more integration will help with the adoption and streamlining of LED modules which will allow for healthy growth."
North America and Europe will see strong LED modules growth in professional applications that require high light quality. The large installed base and continued new construction in China will drive unit growth there, but its lower ASPs mean that it will only be the third largest market in revenue terms by 2019, the firm added.
