Boston, MA - May 5, 2006 -- Televisions will succeed mobile phone handsets in the next five years as the key driver for growth in the LED industry, as consumers switch over to flat-panel televisions, principally liquid-crystal display (LCD) TVs. The latest Strategy Analytics report, "Now Showing on a Television Near You: LEDs are the Ones to Watch," predicts that LED-based backlighting will account for almost 25 percent of the total LCD TV market in 2010.

The global television market is currently undergoing a major transition as traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) technologies are replaced by flat-panel technologies. The new technologies are principally liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), and plasma displays, as well as microdisplay-based rear-projection TVs (RPTV).

"Advances in display technology, lower pricing, and the availability of high-definition content are leading to greater consumer awareness of image quality and display performance," noted Peter King, Director of the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service. "LCD and other flat-panel display technologies will rapidly replace CRT-based sets over the next five years. The flat-panel TV market will be worth over $72 billion by 2010."

"LEDs are able to replace traditional cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) in the backlighting units of LCD televisions, offering advantages in terms of lifetime, environmental friendliness and most significantly enhanced color gamut," observed Asif Anwar, Director of Strategy Analytics GaAs service. "However there are a number of hurdles to overcome including cost and power consumption penalties."

Join Strategy Analytics at SSLS 2006 (Solid State Lighting Suppliers Forum) in Hsinchu, Taiwan (May 9th - May 11th, 2006), where Asif Anwar will present a special market report outlining LED industry supply chain dynamics. See www.strategyanalytics.com for details.