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(April 2006) posted on Wed Apr 05, 2006

An overview of the LED market sheds light on the technology's sign applications.

By Eric Johnson

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Lately, have you attended any industry tradeshow, association meeting or educational event without seeing LEDs feted? Have you read a sign-market publication without noticing editorial features, press releases and full-page advertisements on the topic? LEDs are everywhere, it seems.

Does all the hoopla have you wondering how others are faring with their use of LEDs? Do you wonder what sign programs specify LEDs? What experiences, both good and bad, have individual sign companies had? With all the fuss, what's actually going on in the field with LEDs? This article is a fresh review of the latest news across North America.

Sign-market LED application remains relatively new. LEDs for channel-letter use first appeared nearly three years ago. Subsequently, their initial major market launch occurred during the International Sign Assn's Sign Expo in May 2000. Generally, LEDs have been used for channel letters and outline-lighting applications for approximately 18 months.

During that time, LEDs have enjoyed extraordinary market growth. Mainstream use of outdoor-sign LEDs has grown from zero sales to more than $15 million annual sales today. A half-dozen major market players and more than 20 companies market an LED product for channel-letter and/or outline-lighting applications. The market is obviously growing.

(Note: My sales estimate is based on lengthy discussions with contacts at all distribution levels. It's also subject to assumptions of continued use by select national sign programs.)

Under surveillance

Surveys involving various industry contacts reveal surprising feedback. Despite trade-press fanfare (including this publication), LED usage hasn't achieved "mainstream" nor "prime-time" status. Most sales are driven by major purchases of national sign programs, via production-scale sign companies operating on a regional or national level.

So far, widespread use of LEDs eludes the thousands of North American electric-sign companies. Market substitution of LEDs for neon tubes appears to be less than 10%, and perhaps only 5%.

However, LED interest remains high, and experimentation proliferates. LEDs truly are everywhere, albeit in less volume than marketers suggest. LED promotion is both prevalent and persuasive -- legitimately so, because LEDs appear to be the next great lighting technology.