Demand for LED Drivers Expected to Rise

The trend toward mobile phone cameras with flashes could spur significant growth of driver integrated chips for LEDs. IMS Research of Wellingborough, UK, expects revenue from LED drivers to grow by 50 percent, to $600 million, by 2012. The report says that the number of phones with cameras is rapidly increasing, and more of them than previously come equipped with 1, 2 or 3 megapixels, which require a flash. The xenon flash units found in many digital cameras in use are generally too large for the smaller cell phones currently being manufactured. Handset cameras use an LED flash, which usually requires a discrete driver. A single driver may eventually be used to power both the flash and backlighting. Mobile phones account for more revenue for LED drivers than any other sector. However, most of this is for backlighting applications, and revenues from this area are not expected to grow in line with increasing shipments because of declining prices, increasing integration and some loss of market share to organic LEDs.