In recent years, the LED industry has experienced significant growth driven by strong national industrial policies, increased public awareness of energy efficiency and environmental protection, and continuous improvements in LED technology alongside decreasing costs. As a result, the downstream LED market has expanded rapidly.
According to data from the High-tech Research Institute's LED Research Institute (GGII), the market size for China’s LED downstream applications reached 369.7 billion yuan in 2016, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.71%. GGII forecasts that the output value of China’s LED downstream applications will reach 455.1 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 20.4%.
Among these, LED lighting remains the largest downstream application, with substantial growth in both volume and rate. As the overall LED lighting market recovers, demand for LED chips continues to rise. Looking ahead, with the expansion of the small-pitch market and the ongoing growth in lighting demand, the LED chip industry is expected to grow steadily and rapidly. GGII predicts that the output value of China’s LED chip industry will reach 18.8 billion yuan in 2017, up 29.6% year-on-year, and exceed 28.8 billion yuan by 2020.
However, as price competition intensifies in the general lighting market, future manufacturers will need to focus on maintaining profitability through high-power modules and other niche products. Among these, infrared LEDs are emerging as one of the most promising new areas.
Following the saturation of blue LEDs in the lighting market due to price competition, non-Blue-ray LED technologies have begun to gain traction. This trend has been further accelerated by the adoption of biometric technologies such as 3D sensing in flagship devices like Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple’s next-generation iPhone. The growing demand for such features is driving rapid growth in this sector.
As Chinese manufacturers enter the infrared LED market, prices for some mainstream IR LED products have dropped sharply. However, with the emergence of various new applications—such as security surveillance, virtual reality, facial and iris recognition—the demand for infrared LEDs continues to rise. The estimated size of the infrared LED market in 2017 (excluding optical sensing components) was around $441 million, and it is projected to reach $699 million by 2021.
The overcapacity of blue LEDs has created a favorable environment for the rise of infrared LED demand, which has seen strong growth in 2017. Jibang Consulting notes that beyond traditional security monitoring, emerging applications such as face and iris recognition, heartbeat oxygen sensing, augmented reality (AR), vehicle sensing, and more are opening up numerous business opportunities.
Currently, the infrared LED market is widely used in mobile phones and automotive sectors, including applications like security monitoring, iris/face recognition, heartbeat oxygen detection, time-of-flight, structured light technology, and automated driving assistance systems. With the increasing integration of biometric authentication in smartphones and payment systems, the demand for advanced biometric solutions is rising.
The growing need for mobile payments has also boosted the demand for facial and iris recognition products. With companies like Fujitsu and Samsung introducing iris recognition in their devices, it is expected that other phone brands will follow suit, leading to an "arms race" in hardware innovation.
In terms of health monitoring, reflective heartbeat oxygen sensors are currently focused on wearable devices. If future applications expand into home care, education, and driver assistance systems, the demand for these modules could see a significant boost.
In the virtual reality space, the value of infrared LEDs in VR devices was approximately $14 million in 2016 and is expected to continue growing. In addition to the three major VR devices in 2017, newcomers such as Tencent, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Dell are entering the market, further expanding the ecosystem.
In the automotive sector, infrared LEDs and infrared lasers (VCSELs) are already being used for safety technologies. As automakers focus on detecting driver state and improving safety, infrared sensing is becoming increasingly important, offering new business opportunities for the infrared sensing market.
Taiwanese enterprises have long been involved in the infrared LED sector, with several established manufacturers such as Crystal, Opto, and packaging companies like Yanjing, Yiguang, and Ronda. In 2017, driven by emerging applications like iris recognition and face recognition, many Taiwanese LED factories accelerated their development in high-power infrared LEDs, positioning them as key products.
Yuan Yuan Optoelectronics, a leader in optoelectronic semiconductors, has advanced manufacturing capabilities and a comprehensive patent portfolio, including Ultra-High Brightness LED Chips and leading positions in infrared LEDs.
Crystal’s infrared LED products are mainly used in two fields: short-range sensors and security monitoring. Their products have a proven track record in smartphones and surveillance systems, with steady performance improvements each year.
Guangqi has also made significant progress in infrared LEDs. It entered the smartphone and notebook iris recognition supply chain in 2015 and began mass production in 2016. Its infrared LED revenue is expected to grow as demand increases from both the security and consumer electronics markets.
Yinguang, a leading packaging company, focuses on diverse product portfolios to meet market needs. Everlight offers a wide range of infrared products, including photointerrupters, suitable for various applications.
Yanjing Optoelectronics, a well-known manufacturer of UV and infrared LEDs, has extensive experience in collaboration with chip manufacturers and product development.
Ronda, another vertically integrated LED factory, has developed 3D face recognition system packages and is in the verification stage. The company sees strong potential for expansion into robotics, unmanned vehicles, and drones.
On the mainland, companies like Sanan Optoelectronics, Huacan Optoelectronics, Guoxing Optoelectronics, Hongli Zhihui, Ganzhao Optoelectronics, and Lianchuang Optoelectronics are catching up quickly. Guoxing launched its first VCSEL infrared product in 2017, featuring fast response and high precision.
Hongli Zhihui has been actively developing infrared LED solutions for image and face recognition. Its new micro-crystal series has gained market recognition and established partnerships with leading security firms.
Sanan Optoelectronics, a global LED chip leader, introduced new infrared LED technologies at its product launch conference. The company has developed advanced techniques to meet the growing demand in the infrared LED market.
Huacan Optoelectronics has invested heavily in infrared LED research and plans to start mass production this year. Its collaborations with top manufacturers have yielded early results.
Ganzhao Optoelectronics is working on replacing traditional ternary near-infrared LED chips with new products, which are now in small-scale production.
With the rise of mainland companies, Taiwanese manufacturers are shifting toward high-margin niche markets. As infrared LED demand surges, they are poised for renewed profit growth. However, the aggressive expansion of mainland players will likely intensify competition in this field. The dynamic interplay between Taiwanese and mainland companies is set to continue, shaping the future of the LED industry.
Leakage protector, also known as leakage switch, is a new type of electrical safety device, mainly used for:
(1) Prevent electric shock accidents caused by electrical equipment and electrical circuit leakage;
(2) Preventing single-phase electric shock accidents during electricity use
(3) Timely cut off single-phase grounding faults in the operation of electrical equipment to prevent fire accidents caused by leakage
(4) With the improvement of people's living standards and the continuous increase of household appliances, personal electric shock and fire accidents caused by defects, improper use, and inadequate safety measures of electrical equipment in the process of using electricity have brought undue damage to people's lives and property. The emergence of leakage protectors provides reliable and effective technical means for preventing various accidents, timely cutting off power, and protecting equipment and personal safety.
The leakage protector should meet the following technical requirements
(1) The sensitivity of electric shock protection should be correct and reasonable, and the starting current should generally be within the range of 15-30 milliamperes
(2) The action time of electric shock protection should generally not exceed 0.1 seconds
(3) The protector should be equipped with necessary monitoring equipment to prevent it from losing its protective effect when the operating state changes. For example, for voltage type electric shock protectors, a neutral grounding device should be installed.
ZHEJIANG QIANNA ELECTRIC CO.,LTD , https://www.traner-elec.com