It's reported that Backlight unit (BLU) suppliers are gearing up their shipments of LED BLUs for notebook PCs, with makers' shipments for the segment expected to rise sharply in the second half of the year, according to company and market sources.

Demand for LED backlighting in notebook applications has been rising fast, with LCD panel makers generally predicting a 20% penetration rate for LEDs in the notebook PC market by the end of this year.

Kenmos Technology and Taiwan Nano Electro-Optical Technology (Nano-Op), suppliers of LED backlighting for Apple's MacBook Air, saw their shipments of LED notebook-use BLUs reach 200,000 units each in the first quarter, the sources revealed.

Kenmos and Nano-Op expect their shipments of LED notebook applications to total 1.5 million and two million units, respectively, this year, the sources said.

Coretronic and Radiant Opto-Electronics are speeding their development of LED notebook backlighting in the second quarter, hoping for explosive growth in shipments to the segment in the second half of the year, the sources said.

Coretronic currently is developing LED applications for more than 20 notebook models, the sources said. Apart from currently shipping applications for 15.4- and 17-inch models, the company will place a heavy emphasis on the 10- and 13.3-inch segments, the sources added.

Coretronic is expected to ship 2.5 million units of LED notebook-use BLUs in 2008, the sources said.

Radiant is also developing LED applications for more than 20 notebook models, the sources said. Although the company only shipped 60,000 units of LED notebook BLUs in the first quarter, it has plans to raise the capacity for the segment, with a goal to ship 3.5 million LED notebook BLUs in 2008, the sources said.