Lighting landscape

We see three main transitions that will affect the lighting industry in the years to come. The first is a move towards energy-efficient light sources, in response to rising energy prices and increased awareness of climate change. 

The second transition is the move from traditional vacuum-based technologies to solid-state lighting technology. Solid-state or LED lighting is the most significant development in lighting since the invention of electric light well over a century ago. Offering unprecedented freedom in terms of color, dynamics, miniaturization, architectural integration and energy efficiency, solid-state lighting is opening up exciting new possibilities. 

The third transition is from bulbs and components as the point of value creation to end-user-driven applications and solutions. Increasingly, these applications and solutions will include lighting controls. We believe that, going forward, a key differentiator among lighting suppliers will be the innovative strength to create systems and solutions that are truly customer-centric.

Between now and 2020, we expect the value of the global lighting market to grow by 6% on a compound annual basis. The vast majority of the value will be in LED-based solutions and products – possibly as much as 80% by 2020. As the global leader in LED components, applications and solutions, with a strong global presence across the LED value chain, we believe we are well positioned for the changes at hand. 

The lighting industry has been severely impacted by global economic developments in 2009. In particular, we have seen a dramatic slowdown in demand, partly on the back of tighter availability of credit and weaker spending on public infrastructure projects and partly because of reduced general consumer spending. Though we saw the most profound impact of the recession in the automotive and construction sectors, other business segments have also been affected. While overall economic visibility remains limited, we expect some of our markets to remain under pressure in 2010.