According to a survey conducted by LEDinside, the LED research division of TrendForce, benefitting from the new LED applications, the number of LED units required for every LED TV can be reduced by 30% in 2012. Moreover, the LED TV’s penetration rate in the LCD TV market is expected to increase to 70% in 2012, which will benefit LED backlight module, LED package and LED chip makers to a certain extent. LEDinside indicates that LED TV’s penetration rate will most definitely rise in 2012, which will be a driving force for the LED industry. The low cost direct type backlight not only narrows the price gap between LED LCD TV and CCFL LCD one, but also provides a better resolution. Additionally, Smart TV’s internet access and user-friendly interactive designs are the new features that appeal to consumers. The TV brand vendors will focus more on value-added product to increase profit and also put more emphasis on interactive features and the internet access. Given that CCFL backlight is bound to be phased out eventually, brand vendors will be more inclined to adopt LED backlight and stimulate sales by lowering the price. According to LEDinside, the edge-type LED backlit TVs will mainly adopt 5630 and 7030 package in 2012, which will each account for 50% of the market share. As for the low-cost direct type LED backlit TVs, the specifications are yet to be unified, but the new generation LED together with the lens are three times more expensive than the 5630 module. However, since they do not require light guide plates, the backlight module’s cost can be reduced by 15%. At present, most LED makers are still waiting for product certification. It is estimated that a wide adoption will occur in 2H12, and some more aggressive manufacturers will launch products with the new module in 1H12. 2012 LED TV penetration rate and price gap between backlight modules Also, according to WitsView, the panel research division of TrendForce, the 2012 worldwide LCD TV shipments will amount to 217 million units; LED TV’s penetration rate is expected to increase to 65%-70%. With the decreasing cost, the price gap between LED backlight module and CCFL backlight one will continue to narrow. For example, in terms of 32-inch TV, the price gap between LED backlight module and CCFL backlight module is estimated to narrow to under US$10 in 2H12. As for the TV brand vendors, South Korean makers aim to increase LED TV’s penetration rate to 70%-80% in 2012. On the other hand, due to the decreasing domestic demand, Japanese TV brand vendors are not as aggressive as their South Korean counterparts in regard to LED penetration; they focus more on increasing profit and the market shares in the emerging markets instead. Benefiting from Taiwanese panel makers’ increasing open cell exports, the self supply of Chinese TV brand vendors’ LED backlight module will further increase. In terms of the demand end, impaired by the stagnant global economy in 2011, LED TV’s total shipment in 2011 fell short of expectations. Hence, LED TV and backlight market’s revival depends on the end-market demand. With TV brand vendors launching low-price LED TVs, LCD TV sales is expect to pick up in the emerging markets, which will benefit the LED backlight market.