Overall global LED demand rebounds
In 2020, the LED industry will be affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and market demand will decline significantly. The estimated output value will only reach 15.127 billion US dollars, a 10% annual decrease, which is a rare decline in previous years. Looking forward to 2021, with the advent of vaccines, long-term depressed demand will bottom out. It is estimated that the global LED output value next year is expected to reach 15.7 billion US dollars, an annual increase of 3.8%.
TrendForce pointed out that due to the diversification of LED applications, the industry recovery of each application category is also different. From the perspective of traditional backlight applications, remote office and teaching derived from the 2020 epidemic have become the norm in life, driving the demand for consumer electronic products such as tablets and laptops. Benefited from the strong demand for panels, LED backlight related companies have performed well. However, they are worried that most consumers have already made consumption early this year. Therefore, TrendForce has reservations about whether the strong market demand in 2020 will continue in 2021.
As for the expected Mini LED backlight, under the leadership of major brands such as Apple and Samsung, it is expected that new products will continue to be released in 2021, which will drive the demand for Mini LED backlights to grow substantially, and there will be opportunities for output value in 2021. Reached 131 million US dollars, an increase of 9 times over 2020.
From the perspective of display applications, LED displays are mainly used in commercial spaces. Like general lighting, the decline in the number of commercial shows will reduce the output value of LED displays by 9.3% in 2020. Looking forward to 2021, due to the gradual recovery of various commercial performances and the rising demand for fine-pitch LED displays with higher resolution, it is estimated that the output value of LED displays will return to the level of approximately US$1.48 billion before the epidemic.
From the perspective of general lighting, LED lighting applications have suffered a sharp decline due to the impact of the epidemic. The decline in the number of commercial activities has led to the most obvious decline in the demand for commercial lighting and outdoor landscape lighting. On the other hand, demand in the field of plant lighting has risen sharply, due to the gradual legalization of cannabis cultivation in North America, and the epidemic has caused the medical and entertainment cannabis market to soar.
In addition, the impact of the epidemic on the food supply chain is gradually showing, and investment in indoor planting and agriculture is heating up again. It is expected that some lighting applications will begin to bottom out in 2021; and for automotive lighting, the decline in global auto market sales in 2020 will also cause The automotive lighting market is freezing, and the output value of automotive LED lighting is expected to return to the level of US$2.6 billion in 2021 as the epidemic slows down.