Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Lighting and displays: Equipment and suppliers

What sits inside an LED package, a screen and a laser

What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials).

Key hardware: the LED package, its driver and the luminaire for lighting; the panel and backlight for displays; pump diodes and gain fibre for lasers.

LED lighting

LED package711

Turns DC current into white light.

Japan and Korea Nichia, Samsung Electronics LED, Seoul Semiconductor Europe ams OSRAM United States Lumileds China MLS, Nationstar, Hongli Rest of world Everlight (Taiwan), LITEON (Taiwan)
Bill of materials
  • LED chip: Indium gallium nitride layers grown on sapphire or silicon Not published
  • Phosphor: Rare-earth-doped phosphor in silicone Not published
  • Lead frame, wire bonds, lens: Copper or ceramic base, gold or copper wire, silicone or epoxy Not published
Luminaire and driver8123

Holds the LEDs, removes heat, shapes the beam and converts mains power.

Europe Signify United States Acuity Inc.
Bill of materials
  • Driver: Rectifier, switching converter, capacitors; with optics and heat, about 15% loss on integration Not published
  • Heatsink and housing: Aluminium extrusions or castings Not published

Displays

LCD and OLED panels9

Create images pixel by pixel.

China BOE, China Star (TCL CSOT), EverDisplay Optronics (EDO) Japan and Korea Samsung Display, LG Display Rest of world Innolux (Taiwan)
Bill of materials
  • Glass substrate with thin-film transistors: Amorphous silicon, oxide or polysilicon transistors; indium tin oxide electrodes Not published
  • Light layer: LCD: liquid crystal, polarisers, colour filters, LED backlight. OLED: organic emitter stacks Not published

Lasers

Industrial fibre laser61314

Generates a high-power beam for cutting and welding.

United States IPG Photonics, Coherent, nLight Europe Trumpf (disk and fibre lasers) China Raycus, Maxphotonics
Bill of materials
  • Pump diodes: Multi-mode single-emitter semiconductor laser diodes (IPG grows its own wafers) Not published
  • Gain fibre: Ytterbium-doped glass fibre drawn from preforms, with fibre gratings and combiners Not published
  • Power supply, chiller and control: Power electronics, water chiller, control electronics and software, cabinet Not published

Sources

  1. 2019 Lighting R&D Opportunities US Department of Energy, Solid-State Lighting Program, 2020
  2. High efficiency fiber lasers (YLS-ECO series) IPG Photonics, 2026
  3. Global LED package market value reached US$17.65 billion in 2021 with Nichia ranking first, says TrendForce LEDinside (TrendForce), 2022
  4. Signify publishes 2025 Annual Report (press release) Signify, 2026
  5. Omdia forecasts large-area display shipments to grow 2.8% YoY in 2025 (press release, 3 October 2025) Omdia, 2025
  6. ams OSRAM investor presentation, 8 November 2024 (citing TrendForce LED Player Revenue and Capacity 4Q23) ams OSRAM, 2024
  7. Acuity Inc. annual report to shareholders, fiscal 2025 Acuity Inc. / US SEC, 2025
  8. IPG Photonics Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 IPG Photonics / US SEC, 2026
  9. Laser technology in transition: moderate growth in the laser market (AKL'26 press release, 30 June 2026) Fraunhofer ILT, 2026