Application of LED in portable consumer electronics

Cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) are commonly used as backlight sources in large-size LCD backlighting. Although CCFL IT tubes are thinner and shorter, they are obviously too large compared to surface-mount LEDs. The driving circuit of CCFL is an electronic transformer based on a control IC, which is not only large in size but also complex in design. Therefore, CCFL is difficult to use as a backlight source in small LCD color displays. LEDs have naturally become the preferred solution for backlighting of small-size LCD displays due to their small size, light weight, low power consumption, durability and excellent optical properties.

Portable consumer digital electronic products are the main application area of ​​high-brightness LEDs. There are many types of handheld digital products, the most important of which are mobile phones, digital cameras, digital video cameras, PDAs and game consoles. These handheld devices are equipped with small LCD color displays, and their backlighting and incoming call indication require LEDs. Products with camera functions also need flashlights, which makes LEDs come into play. The application level of LEDs in these portable products is very high, reaching more than 90% or even 100%. At present, the global annual market size of all major handheld digital products is approximately: 1 billion mobile phones, 100 million digital cameras, 30 million digital video cameras, and 30 million PDAs. The market share of LED applications in portable products accounts for more than 45% of the global total LED market.

Take mobile phones as an example. A mobile phone needs a color LED as an incoming call indicator, 2 to 4 self-illuminating LEDs as color screen (main and auxiliary) backlights, 6 to 8 LEDs as key backlights, and mobile phones with camera functions need 1 or more white light LEDs as flashlights. Currently, the annual production of mobile phones in the world is about 1 billion units. If each mobile phone uses one LED, the annual demand for LEDs in mobile phones around the world will reach 10 billion units.

my country is an important mobile phone production base in the world. As early as 2004, my country's annual mobile phone production reached 233 million units, accounting for 35% of the world's production (665 million units), ranking first in the world. In 2006, my country's mobile phone production reached 500 million units (390 million of which were exported), accounting for 50% of the world's total. It can be seen that mobile phones are currently one of the most important areas of LED application in my country. However, due to the small number of SMD LED manufacturers in my country and the fact that the product quality is still not stable enough, it is far from meeting the needs of the domestic market. The SMD LED chips needed for domestic mobile phones are mainly supplied by South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, China.

The application of LED in hard portable products such as mobile phones has reached saturation. With the increasing application of LED in fields such as automobiles and lighting, the market share of LED in portable products will show a gradual downward trend.