News Article
IHS: Opoelectronic components market holds promise
LEDs continue to dominate the optoelectronic components market
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According to the report 'Optoelectronic Components' from IHS Inc, there are a number of small high growth opportunities that could prove lucrative for a number of suppliers.
LEDs currently account for 79 percent of the total optoelectronic component market, in terms of revenue, with lighting and backlight applications making up the majority of this.
By 2018, the percentage of total optoelectronic component revenue that is LED is expected to fall to 75 percent, as new emerging growth opportunities exist in the market for other components.
In the optical isolation market, revenue in the high performance optocoupler market to increase from $543 million in 2013 to $677 million by 2018, with particularly high growth expected in the gate driver market. New emerging applications areas such as Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (HEV), PV inverters and smart meters are driving this market growth.
Although these applications currently only make up a relatively small proportion of the total high performance optocoupler market, with compound annual growth rates of up to 10% - 20% from 2013 to 2018 they have attracted a number of existing suppliers of optocouplers to participate in the market.
It is not only the optical isolation providers that see the emerging applications as a key focus, leading suppliers of non-optical isolation and increasingly seeing their products being adopted in these areas due to the increased reliability and higher product lifetimes.
In the infrared component market, many traditional product lines such as IREDs (Infrared Light Emitting Diodes), photodiodes/transistors have relatively low growth potential, with end unit numbers remaining relatively flat and penetration rates falling with Bluetooth and other connectivity technologies replacing Infrared.
However, there are significant opportunities in the consumer electronics space with OEM manufacturers rapidly adopting ambient light and integrated ambient light and proximity sensors in smart phones and tablet computers.
Ambient light sensors are forecast to grow from $252 million in 2013 to $379 million in 2018. With space so limited in smart phones, there has been an ongoing trend towards more integrated solutions in these products.
In 2013, mobile telecommunications account for over 99% of the total integrated ambient light and proximity sensor market. From 2014 onwards there will also be a new emerging application in gesture control for tablets, with revenues rising from near zero in 2013 to $244 million in 2018.
If optoelectronic component manufacturers can gain an early share in these high growth areas, there is potential for significant gains over the coming years.
