San Francisco, CA - February 20, 2006. Strategies Unlimited drew record attendance at Strategi es in Light, its seventh annual business conference and exhibition on high-brightness LEDs held February 15-17, 2006 at the Hilton San Francisco. 

This year's event attracted 498 participants from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. In addition, the conference was supported by 39 sponsors and exhibitors, ranging from equipment and materials suppliers to LED manufacturers to trade publications.  

Strategies in Light 2006, whose theme was "Beyond Mobile Phones: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing LED Market," provided insight into the trends in major HB LED applications, markets, products, and technologies, as well as emerging applications such as automobile headlamps and backlights for larger LCD displays that will strongly impact the industry's future. Featured speakers included: Neils Haverkorn from Philips Lighting; Masaru Sasaki from K oito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; B.J. Lee from Epistar; and Peter Moran from Doll Capital Management.

Senior level executives from Avago Technologies, Lumileds Lighting, Osram Opto Semiconductors, Permlight Products, Powstar Optoelectronics, RPI's Lighting Research Center, TIR Systems, Seoul Semiconductor, Toyoda Gosei, Visoneered Image Systems, and Visteon Corporation also presented.  

The array of topics included: HB LED markets, illumination applications; LED video screens; supply trends in Asia; LED lifetime iss ues and standards; intellectual property issues; industry financing; national solid-state lighting programs, and more.  

Conference Chair Robert Steele of Strategies Unlimited kicked of the conference with his annual overview and forecast of the HB LED market, noting that the market grew by 8% to $4.0 billion in 2005, a slowdown from the average annual growth rate of 46% since 2001. He pointed out that the slowdown was due to the maturing of the mobile phone handset market and associated pricing pressure due to overcapacity in Asia. However, Steele also noted that while the HB LED market has been heavily influenced by the growth of the mobile phone market in recent years, all other applications (e.g. signs, automotive, signals, illumination) together have grown a t a very healthy average annual rate of 21%. The market is forecast to more than double to $8.2 billion in 2009.  

Next year Strategies in Light will be held February 12-14, 2007 in San Francisco. For further information on Strategies in Light, pl ease contact Luba Hrynyk at lubah@pennwell.com, or visit us online at: www.strategiesinlight.com. For more information on Strategies Unlimited market research and strategic consulting services for the optical networks, optoelectronics, RF/wireless, and photovoltaic components industries, please contact Tim Carli at 650-941-3438, ext. 23 or email at tcarli@strategies-u.com.  

Founded in 1979, Strategies Unlimited specializes in market research reports, custom studies, and newsletters targeted for the optoelectronic, optical communications, photovoltaic, compound semiconductor material, and RF/microwave components industr ies. A wholly-owned subsidiary of PennWell Corporation, a business-to-business media and information company serving global strategic industries, Strategies Unlimited is located in Mountain View, California.