UPDATE 2-Philips sees strong growth in solid-state lighting
(Adds details, quotes)
By Niclas Mika
FRANKFURT, April 7 (Reuters) - Philips Electronics (PHG.AS), the world's biggest lighting maker, sees strong growth potential for solid-state lighting systems in the coming years, a market that it wants to tap into to fuel profits.
"Solid state lighting is going to be one of the growth engines," Rudy Provoost, the head of Philips' lighting business, said at at the "Light+Building" industry fair in Frankfurt on Monday.
Philips said it expected the market for professional solid-state luminaires to grow more than 30 percent per year to 1.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) by 2010. It estimated market size at 700 million euros in 2007, a fraction of the 58 billion euro overall market.
Provoost said Philips wanted to grow at twice the rate of the market in that segment, but he would not shed light on the company's current market share or sales.
Shares in Philips were up 1 percent at 25.26 euros by 1458 GMT while the DJ Stoxx 50 rose 0.7 percent.
Solid-state lights, or LEDs (light emitting diodes), have been used for decades as indicator lights in devices such as modems, but the technology has advanced to the point where it can be used for lighting.
Manufacturers tout solid-state lighting as the lighting systems of the future, saying LEDs are small and efficient and last much longer than traditional bulbs. Philips says its consumer LED products will have a life span of up to 20 years.
After a string of takeovers, 2008 will be the year for Philips to integrate acquired companies, Provoost said, but he did not rule out further buys.
In January, Philips completed its $2.7 billion takeover of U.S. lighting maker Genlyte, making it the top North American lighting company.
It competes with companies such as General Electric (GE.N), Osram -- the lighting unit of Siemens (SIEGn.DE) -- and Zumtobel (ZUMV.VI). The lighting division contributed 23 percent of Philips' group sales in 2007 and 30 percent of core profit. (Reporting by Niclas Mika; Editing by Rory Channing/Andrew Hurst)
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