By ReutersInformationWeek
A crop of sleek, design-led laptops, featuring light
emitting diode (LED)-backlit displays was on show at the
Computex trade fair in Taiwan this week, using technology once
the preserve of smaller gadgets such as toys, music players, and
mobile phones.
Just three-quarters of an inch thick, and able to fit into
a a standard manilla envelope, Apple's recently
launched Macbook Air, with LED display, makes the laptop
lighter than one lit by conventional cold cathode fluorescent
lamps (CCFLs) and consumes less power.
"The selling point this year is very clear, and that is
ultralight and bright," Neo Lin, a product manager of Taiwan's
Micro-Star International, said at Computex,
the world's second-largest PC fair.
"And don't forget: green is the way to make money now."
At its booth, MSI showed off its 'Wind' notebook, weighing
in at around 1 kilo, and which has a 10-inch LED-backlit
display and a sleek outer shell to attract design-conscious
customers.
Dell, Sony, and Lenovo also see the future for LED and are coming
up with ever-slimmer laptops featuring LED-backlit displays.
Computer makers, increasingly concerned with appealing to
consumer demands for more environmentally friendly products,
point to these displays' benefits. They typically use 20
percent less power, which extends the battery life, and they
contain no mercury, which poses a threat to the environment.
Market researcher DisplaySearch expects LED-backlit
displays to account for 50 percent of all notebook panels in
2010, up from 12 percent this year. By 2015, all laptop
displays will use LEDs, generating sales of $6 billion.
LCD MAKERS
Liquid crystal display makers AU Optronics, Chi Mei Optoelectronics, and LED chip
supplier Epistar will benefit from the shift to LED.
Macquarie Research names Epistar as its top pick in the LED
sector, although in the longer term, Merrill Lynch warns of
growing competition from newcomers, including display and PC
makers.
Merrill Lynch expects Epistar's EPS to rise 24 percent in
2008 and grow another 46 percent in 2009. But the EPS growth
will slow to 12 percent in 2010.
As part of its efforts to make environmentally friendly
products, about one-tenth of AU's laptop LCD panels use LED
backlights now and the world's No.3 LCD maker aims to make all
its laptops with LED displays by 2011.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's biggest contract chip maker, is
considering the potentially lucrative LED market.
However, making things smaller typically costs more in the
computing industry.
LED backlights are more expensive than CCFL-backlit
displays, with a premium of $25, but researcher iSuppli says
the price gap could narrow to within $10 in the next few years.
"Price is the biggest concern now, but I don't have doubts
that the penetration rate will be higher," said Alex Huang, a
vice president at Taiwan's Mega International Securities.
Further ahead, large desktop monitors and flat-screen LCD
TVs might be lit by LEDs.
LED-lit displays are set to make up 9 percent of the LCD TV
market and 12 percent of the LCD monitor market, DisplaySearch
said.
"It's a matter of time and premium. If consumers want them,
they will be willing to pay more," said Maggie Chen, a brand
manager at Acer, whose latest Ferrari laptop coated in
carbon-fibre black has an LED-backlit display.
(Editing by Louise Heavens; Ian Geoghegan)
By: Baker Li
Copyright 2008 Reuters. See original article on InformationWeek
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