Zinc Oxide Market Predicted to Grow to $2.3 Billion by 2017
A new report from industry analyst firm NanoMarkets says that Zinc Oxide (ZnO) is emerging as an important electronics material, with sales of conductive coatings, electrode materials, and electronic devices using ZnO more than tripling to $1.3 billion by 2015 and going on to reach $2.3 billion by 2017.
While some of hoped-for developments in this part of the electronics market have not materialized, in this report NanoMarkets has identified several areas where Zinc Oxide electronics can still expect to achieve growth in the coming years.
NanoMarkets’ report notes that by 2015, the largest single segment of the Zinc Oxide electronics market will be Zinc Oxide light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This part of the market will exceed $415 million by that year. Despite the economic turndown, this area is beginning to grow out of the pure R&D mode, fueled by the boom in energy-efficient lighting. ZnO offers several advantages in the solid-state lighting space, not the least of which is low cost compared with more traditional LED materials such as GaN and GaAs.
Meanwhile, ZnO is gradually proving itself to be a low-cost electrode material and conductive coating and an alternative to such high price materials as ITO and silver in display, lighting and photovoltaics applications. Sales of ZnO preparations used in such applications are expected to reach more than $220 million by 2015, and they are also expected to become more effective as conventional ZnO is replaced by ZnO nanopowders and nanostructures.
“Zinc Oxide Markets, 2010 and Beyond” identifies the considerable opportunities that are available for ZnO in conductive and optical coatings, photovoltaics, lighting, displays and sensors, among other important apllications. Revenue opportunities for ZnO as both a coating and a semiconductor device are both discussed in detail.
The report also examines what the latest trends in the energy and electronics industry mean for ZnO electronics and discusses how ZnO matches up against the many different alternative materials with which it competes in each of the applications where it serves. Finally, the report looks at the latest developments in some of the areas of electronics where ZnO has long-term potential such as ZnO TFTs and ZnO-based power electronics. The report also contains detailed eight-year forecasts of ZnO electronics, by applications and technology, and a look at what important leading edge firms are doing in this space.
