AMSTERDAM, GERMANY: More than a century into its existence, Philips is once again betting heavily on semiconductors. This time the consumer electronics firm is looking to harness their potential as a source of light.

The producer of one in four of the world's lights, which sold its semiconductor business in 2006 after it was undercut by Asian rivals, has invested more than 4 billion euros ($5.47 billion) to ride the clean-tech wave and defend its world-leading position.

But this time, Philips is better prepared for competition.

The company is betting on a shift in the lighting market, away from inefficient incandescent light bulbs and toward light-emitting diodes or LEDs -- perhaps best known for their use in the flashing indicators found on most consumer devices.

"In terms of value around 2015, LED will be bigger than conventional light sources," said Philips executive Niels Haverkorn. In the fourth quarter of 2009, LED-based products made up more than 10 percent of Philips' lighting sales for the first time.

Made of diodes, or chips, the first practical LED was a red light developed in 1962. Now the technology has advanced to enable them to produce light colors across the color spectrum.

To help draw attention to LEDs' potential to scale up, come down in price and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Philips at the turn of the year converted the famous numerals on the Times Square Ball -- which is raised and lowered to signify the coming of a new year -- to LED technology.

Other stunts have included a display of LED lights at the world heritage-listed windmills at Kinderdijk in the Netherlands and a solar-powered LED streetlamp at the Copenhagen climate talks.

LEDs' advantages include long life, energy efficiency and the fact they do not contain mercury, as opposed to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which after they became commercial in the 1980s were the first alternative to conventional bulbs.

Philips estimates LEDs made up just 6-8 percent of the 45-50 billion euros in global lighting sales in 2009. The company, which had about 6.5 billion euros in annual lighting sales in 2009, expects the global lighting market to grow to more than 80 billion euros by 2015.

Regulation Helps

To some extent, it is banking on regulation. The European Union -- which is phasing out old-style incandescent bulbs ahead of a total ban in 2012 -- sees LEDs as a crucial step in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, because they use up to 80 percent less energy and last much longer.

About 16 billion conventional light bulb fixtures globally have to be replaced in the coming decades with LED lights. Researchers at consultancy iSuppli expect the LED market to continue to grow despite the economic crisis, estimating that in 2013 sales from LEDs globally will be around $15 billion.

Although lighting is seen as a crucial driver of Philips' future earnings growth, analysts see it as more of a long-term rather than short-term support for Philips' stock.

"The lighting market is set to shift both in terms of light source and applications. Philips is trying to ride this curve and, in our view, has all the right ingredients in place if the industry were indeed to move in this direction," said Jan Hein de Vroe, technology analyst at ING, who has a "buy" recommendation on the stock.

Of 37 analysts tracking Philips shares, 19 have a "strong buy" or "buy" rating, while 14 have a "hold" and 4 a "sell" or "strong sell" recommendation, according to StarMine data.

Competition Ahead

Analysts also warn competition in the market will be brutal. Philips' main rivals in the sector are Siemens' Osram, General Electric, Sharp, Samsung, and Cree of the United States.