The LED lighting market is expected to see significant growth as early as third-quarter 2011 as Taiwan-based LED chipmakers are expected to follow Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA, which lowered prices for high-power LEDs by 10–15% in fourth-quarter 2010, reports Digitimes.

The LED lighting market is expected to take off in 2012 when the growth of the large-size market starts to slow down. LED-backlit TV panels should account for 50% of total TV panel shipments in 2011 due to promotion by vendors.

In late 2010, Cree introduced a white LED with a luminous efficacy of 160 lumen per watt (lm/W) at a price of US$3, which is still high. Also at the end of 2010, Osram introduced a high-power LED with a luminous efficacy of 135lm/W, while Nichia, Epistar and Formosa Epitaxy (Forepi) plan to mass produce 100–133lm/W high-power LEDs in first-quarter 2011. Philips aims to lower the cost of LEDs to US$1 per 400 lumen in 2011.

The mass-production schedule of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — the world’s largest silicon foundry, which is entering the LED manufacturing sector using silicon substrates — has reportedly been delayed to the second quarter. TSMC’s LED packaging subsidiary VisEra Technologies will focus on the LED indoor lighting market in 2011 and aims to reduce costs by 30% per year, reports Digitimes.