align="justify">Darfon Electronics expects to ship illuminated notebook keyboards utilizing RGB LEDs, whose thickness is 0.7~0.9mm larger than traditional LEDs, to a Top-3 notebook maker in the second quarter, according to the company.

Global shipments of notebook keyboards totaled 93.11 million units last year and Darfon grabbed 35.44% of that market, according to company president Andy Su. The company aims to increase its notebook keyboard shipments from 33 million units in 2007 to 48 million units in 2008, according to Su, as cited in a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

Prices for new illuminated notebook keyboards range from US$20 to US$40, Su noted.

For TV applications, LED backlighting based LCD TVs are still priced 2~3 times higher than TVs that use cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) solutions, Su noted. He added that CCFL solutions will still remain the mainstream in the short time, except for larger than 65-inch LCD TVs.