The latest report from the Green Energy Agency , TrendForce , noted that the global LED ( including visible and invisible LEDs ) in 2015 presented a recession for the first time , to $ 143 . 2.5 billion , a 3 per cent decline in the year . The main reason led to a decline in the average price of parts of the mainstream LED by up to 40 per cent in the main reason ; and the strong appreciation of the United States dollar also led to a recession in the conversion of many LED manufacturers into United States dollars . Some of the main reasons for the negative growth of the output value in 2015 are as follows : 1 . LED technology improves , such that the number of uses is reduced . If the TV backlight is imported with flip - chip LED technology , the number of LED backlight can be further reduced . 2 . Replacement technology rises . OLED panel technology tends to mature , more and more handset manufacturers want differentiation into OLED panel . Because OLED panel has self - luminous characteristics , LED backlight is not required , so backlight application of smart phone is gradually replaced by the rise of OLED technology . 3 . Supply and supply exceeds demand . As a result of the supply and supply of the whole industry and the excessive capacity , the price competition is fierce . As for the LED lighting applications , the growth of the whole output value is slowed down due to the decline in price because of the continued growth in the quantity . In addition to LED backlight applications , LED backlight applications continue to grow in 2016 . In addition to LED backlight applications , the number of applications used in general lighting , automotive lighting , and display screens is still growing in addition to technical alternatives to the rise of OLED panels . On the other hand , since the supply - demand gap has not been balanced , the 2016 LED price competition pressure continues to exist . However , over the past year , due to excessive competition among LED manufacturers , many LED products have been sold for loss , even close to cash costs , so the space for price declines has been relatively limited . The mainstream application kinetic energy is slowed down , the LED industry is over for more than a decade of high - speed growth Looking back on the development history of LED industry , it has always been a trend of high growth . As the demand of LED industry is promoted in various applications , including mobile phone keyboard and screen backlight , TV backlight , even intelligent mobile phone and flat - plate computer , and the popularization of LED lighting permeability . LED inside statistics show that the average annual compound growth rate of LED industry in the past decade is about 20 % ~ 30 % , but the main reason for the negative growth and decline of the output value in the past decade is the slowdown of the growth kinetic energy of the mainstream application . In 2015 , the global LED output value was US $ 143 . 2.5 billion , with a negative growth of the first degree