TrendForce: Auto LED industry to hit US$3 billion in 2021

TrendForce's research signaled that the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the global auto market in the first half of 2020, has also affected the automotive LED industry. With the gradual recovery of overall sales in the second half of the year and the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the output value of automotive LEDs in 2020 will reach US$2.572 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%.

The forecast for 2021 estimates that the output value of automotive LEDs could reach USD$2.926 billion, an annual increase of 13.7%, driven by the demand for headlights and automotive panels. The continuous introduction of LED lighting in new vehicle types will continue to drive the increase in the penetration rate of automotive LEDs.

TrendForce analyst Wu Ying-jie said that in the 2020 revenue ranking of automotive LED manufacturers, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Nichia, and Lumileds continue to rank the world's top three for two consecutive years. The combined market share of these three firms makes up as much as 71.9%.

Among them, Osram Opto Semiconductors, with its excellent product quality, is often regarded as the top supplier among European and American high-end cars and new energy vehicle suppliers. These factors are considered the main reason behind its global automotive LED lighting revenue growth last year.

In addition, the pandemic led to the shutdown of many Japanese car factories, which also directly affected the overall revenue and market share performance of Japanese LED manufacturers such as Nichia and Stanley in 2020. The annual revenue of the two companies decreased by 9.8% and 7%, making them among the top ten automotive LED manufacturers seeing the most severe decline.

Seoul Semiconductor's nPola and Wicop LED products emphasize high brightness levels and compact sizes. China's Changan, SAIC GM, Weilai and other automakers have adopted these two companies' products, bolstering their market share to 5.1% in 2020.

Others such as Samsung LED and CREE, in addition to their stable performance in the after-installation and refitting car market, have also gradually entered the front-mounted car lights original market. In 2020, both ranked seventh and ninth place with a market share of 2.8% and 1.1% respectively in the industry.

Overall, TrendForce considers the global auto market demand to have rebounded since the fourth quarter of 2020. LED manufacturers indicated that the order status in 2021 looks exceptionally optimistic, leading most LED manufacturers to extend the lead time of their products. TrendForce also warned the possibility of follow-up double boking occurring, highlighting the need to continue to observe the actual number of orders and the possibility of future price hikes.