Governments in Asia such as South Korea, China and Taiwan all plan to promote and increase the development of LED lighting in 2012 through various policies. South Korea plans to replace street lamps with LED lighting systems starting December 2011. China is expected to announce LED lighting subsidies in December while Taiwan plans to replace 19,000 street lamps with LED lighting.

A significant price drop of LED chips can help the commercialization of LED lighting in the end market. According to LED firms, the oversupply problem in the LED industry will likely be solved if the penetration of LED TV reaches 70% and LED lighting reaches 20% in 2012.

Various governments in Asia have been announcing policies related to the LED industry. Japan has been promoting the usage of energy-saving products since the earthquake in March 2011. Through policies, many offices, factories, and businesses have been replacing lighting products with LED lights. This helped the rapid expansion of the LED lighting market in Japan. The industry estimates Japan's LED lighting market to grow to JPY139.3 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2011, an 85.7% increase on year.

China is expected to announce LED lighting subsidy programs. Industry sources indicated the subsidies are likely to benefit state-owned enterprises initially. Also, the 12th Five-Year Plan has included policies to promote the LED lighting market.

South Korea will begin a project to replace street lamps with LED lighting systems in December. There are currently about 2.7 million street lamps in South Korea. If all street lamps be replaced with LED lighting systems, the output value of the LED lighting market can reach KRW2 trillion (US$1.73 billion) in the future. Taiwan has similar policies to help the expansion of the domestic LED lighting market.

Source:digitimes