USA: Due to their low power consumption, thin form factor, light weight and environmental friendliness, LEDs are set to take the notebook PC display backlighting market by storm during the next few years, with nine out of 10 large-sized mobile PC LCD panels expected to use the technology by 2012, iSuppli Corp. predicts.

iSuppli estimates 90 percent of large-sized LCD notebook-PC panels shipped in 2012 will employ LEDs to backlight their displays, up from just 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. By the end of this year, LED-backlit large LCD notebook PC panel shipments will surge to 17.4 million units, up by more than a factor of six from 2.8 million units in 2007.

The attached figure presents iSuppli’s forecast of LED backlight penetration in large-sized notebook PC LCD panels. iSuppli defines large-sized LCD panels as those having a diagonal dimension of 10-inches and larger.

“Currently, LCD displays in notebook PCs employ Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFLs) for backlighting,” said Sweta Dash, director of LCD and projection research at iSuppli. “While this is a proven technology and has lower cost compared to LED, it faces shortcomings in the areas of power consumption and thickness compared to LEDs.

“In the future, as the cost differential between LED and CCFL backlights narrows, LED-based notebook PC panels will gain market share due to their thinner form factor, lower power consumption and lack of mercury content.”