CompoundSemi Online - The Original Compound Semiconductor Industry Newspaper

May 2, 2006...The compound semi (CS) industry has bridged so many technology vs. applications gaps over the decades that it should be able to take the current solid state lighting (SSL) "tech vs. apps" divide in stride. When you hear the lament that there's a tremendous disparity between solid state lighting (SSL) supply side innovation and the wants/needs of the overall lighting and end user community, it should register that the existence of such a gap is really nothing new to veteran CS industry players. Most of us read those books and some of us even appeared in the movies. We indeed enabled the various revolutions.

After watching the overall semiconductor, CS and SSL industries evolve since their respective infancies (1970s on), let me assure you, it's not so much a question of if any truly promising "new" technology replaces its predecessor(s), but rather when and how. As we prepare for the 4th annual get-together for the SSL suppliers, SSLS 2006 in Taiwan May 9-11, my suggestion to the SSL industry at this stage of its takeover of fluorescent and incandescent solutions is to proceed aggressively with internal industry innovation while confining the details of what's involved to your fellow SSL suppliers. So often when we try and sell the tech side to end users, it just confuses them and sometimes even scares them away. As the mobile phone, solar cell, and laser guys have taught us... the hard way... talk openly and candidly about the technology and industry struggles and systems integrators and end users tend to wait until the final generation appears. When it comes to lights for personal or professional use, end users don't want 6 month product lifespans, they want 10 year product lifespans.

Note that this year we're kicking off SSLS 2006 Tuesday morning (ref: updated agenda), May 9th, with a two-hour workshop that provides a look at the SSL industry from the viewpoint of the lighting designer. Lighting designers serve as systems integrators of SSL solutions and they're pretty darn savvy when it comes to new lighting technologies. Our workshop instructor is Jeffrey Miller of the International Association of Lighting Designers who will share with our attendees his view of what it will take to meet the needs his community faces with the advent of SSL technology. If you're an LED packager, you'll definitely want to attend this pre-conference workshop where Jeff examines what lighting designers actually require regarding reliability, standards, and new product design. He'll be underscoring the human factors that drive architectural lighting design, and the many ways the SSL industry might respond. This is a topic that simply hasn't been addressed in prior meets and this workshop is the only place where you're going to get the right level of information on what it's going to take to effectively penetrate the general lighting market.

End users really don't care how LED die is made, or how its packaged, and they certainly don't care about our internal IP issues, all of which are worthy topics of ongoing discussion inside the supply chain. They do care, however, that LED-based lighting solutions equate to less human dependency on nasty things like oil, which is a very topical subject these days in any country. So your sell to the end user general lighting, automotive and display (etc.) communities is simply the idea of transitioning to SSL solutions. Equating SSL adoption to when we transitioned from tube-based radio and TV to safer, smaller solid state receivers is an example. Maybe use the hook that the old lightbulb jokes will disappear because nobody has to screw in a lightbulb if it's made with LEDs, because it'll almost never need replacing.

As an industry, SSL suppliers are facing a similar challenge to what the multijunction solar cell people face to expedite terrestrial applications. The must prove to consumers the long-term savings and environmental value, and provide them with product that meets expectations. Keep it simple, while keeping it honest. Telling them what it took (or takes) to actually manufacture the end product from start to finish seldom works when it comes to communicating with ultimate end users. It just scares them off and makes them want to wait until the tech community irons out all the internal wrinkles that inevitably exist when bringing any new technology to the forefront of final acceptance. Keeping the message simple while keeping it honest does. Save the struggles and internal disputes for supply chain discussions, discourse, and pursuits of international supply chain harmony. That's what our SSL Suppliers Forum, SSLS 2006 in Taiwan is designed to accomplish. (And do we ever have an incredible lineup of supply chain issues for discussion, discourse, and pursuits of international harmony for you at this year's event! Check out the updated agenda.)

The basic challenge that the SSL supply chain people face right now is keeping the tech advances (or lack of them) in the family. We've progressed to the point where we're smack dab in the middle of literally taking over all the targeted lighting applications. It's here. It's now. It's no longer a matter of "the future of LEDs." It's always hard for techies to keep it simple. It isn't in their DNA. The CS guys have been through and what happened to them when The Telecom Bubble busted? Hard times. Really hard times. In many ways, they oversold the technology, its acceptance and the timeline. SSL leaders at Cree, Lumileds, Osram, GELcore, Color Kinetics, OptoLum and Permlight appear to be doing a pretty good job of quietly tackling the tough technology inside and at insider meets, while keeping their messages simple to the outside world, especially their end use customers. I'm sure there are Asian companies that are doing the same and provide good role models for what I'm trying to convey.

Fortunately, the SSL industry has transitioned gradually up the value chain of LED applications, which makes the communications task somewhat easier. First came little fairy lights, nightlights, mini-flashlights, traffi,c and mobile phone applications. Then came the higher form of those and a myriad of automotive apps. At long last, our beloved MOCVD-based InGaAlP and GaN packaged LEDs and ancillary technologies are producing acceptable and affordable product suitable for almost all illumination and display lighting applications. Instead of pretending like we just invented LEDs (which right off requires defining conventional vs. "HB LEDs", which automatically thrusts you into complicated supply chain topics), keep it simple and keep it honest. There's an applicable acronym I first learned when producing television: "KISS", which stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Here's all end users need to know: LEDs have been around for eons. LEDs are a trustworthy, cost-effective light source. They come in virtually all colors, last longer than what they're replacing, and really do consume considerably less power. You can touch an LED-based lamp and it won't burn you (not if it's packaged properly). You don't even have to get into medical apps, which do, however, provide all sorts of interesting niche stories. You can harmlessly talk about seemingly complicated topics that aren't actually complicated... like how LEDs make for better and more refreshing ambiance and what white light "tunability" brings to ambient lighting. But the primary messages that should really get out to end users (and the governments that surround and often interfere with their independent choices and decisions) are that LED-based lighting solutions are now in vogue worldwide, primarily because they do the job, while replacing the current insane dependency we humans have on oil-based economies.

In contrast, what YOU need to know, and WHO you need to know as a member of that critical SSL supply chain, is what you'll gain by attending SSLS 2006 in Taiwan May 9-11. If you haven't yet done so, shouldn't you be making your reservations to attend?

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