Li-Fi Market worth $75.5 billion by 2023
According to a new research report by Global Insights, the Li-Fi market is anticipated to reach $75.5 billion by 2023, growing at 80.8 percent CAGR from its value of $630 million in 2015.
Market drivers are increasing demand for 3G and 4G technology and pressures on RF spectrum, says Global Insights.
Li-Fi operates by turning off-the-shelf LED lights off and on within nanoseconds, which makes subtle changes of brightness invisible to the human eye. This modulated optical output is detected and reconverted to an electrical current by a photodetector.
Since it uses the visible light spectrum, Li-Fi technology is expected to complement Wi-Fi in environments where the latter is not suitable. This includes environments such as healthcare, where data security is paramount.
While visible light communications (VLC) market also includes a solid state emitting device and a photo sensitive receiver, VLC is a unidirectional, point-to-point light communication link operated at low or moderate data rates.
In contrast, Li-Fi does not require line-of-sight between the transmitter and receiver. Also, it is capable of delivering the same or greater data transfer speeds when compared to a Wi-Fi access point.
Internet video traffic is forecast to grow at over 45 percent in the coming years, with video expected to contribute to nearly 70 percent of consumer internet traffic. Increasing data production and usage will lead towards the need for wireless optical networks alongside RF-based networks.
Rising demand from environments such as hospitals, medical centers, and schools are likely to fuel the industry from 2016 to 2023.
Rising LED adoption owing to benefits offered such as longer life span, high efficiency, and low maintenance will also aid in global Li-Fi market growth. Several nations such as the US, Japan and China have taken initiatives for energy conservation with the help of LED lighting technology.
Low degree of awareness regarding the technology may restrain growth in the coming years. Additionally, misconceptions such as the technology being line-of-sight in nature are expected to challenge growth. Industry experts predict the impact of this restraint to lessen over the forecast timeframe with growing consumer demand for wireless connectivity and higher data rates.
LED is expected to exceed $33 billion by 2023, growing at over 79 percent CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Growing regulatory initiatives for energy efficiency has led to increased LED demand, which will drive industry growth in the coming years. Photodetector segment accounted for over 30 percent of the Li-Fi market share in 2015, and is estimated to be the fastest growing component.
In the future, the technology can be integrated into a solar panel to create a self-powered receiver. The panel will receive light from the LED in order to create power, and will receive light from the network so as to act as the broadband receiver. This will open application avenues in rural broadband, backhaul, low-cost beacons, and the Internet of Things.
Location based services accounted for over 40 percent of the global revenue in 2015, and is forecast to grow at 79.5 percent CAGR from 2016 to 2023. The technology is anticipated to enhance users' shopping experience by providing precise location information services. In addition, it also allows pop-ups regarding the recent product offers going on in the store. This helps shop owners by generating a reminder regarding product supply shortage across the store.
Healthcare sector is projected to arrive at over $2.6 billion by 2023. This application segment is expected to grow significantly owing to absence of electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves that poses no threat to patients' health and helps in rendering safe environment in the hospital as well as healthcare facilities. The technology also enables better management as it helps share patient data across different departments at very high speed.
Asia Pacific Li-Fi market size was valued at over $185 million in 2015. The regional growth will be fuelled by need for internet connectivity in underdeveloped countries. UAE Company Zero 1 has outlined plans to roll out Li-Fi service in Silicon Oasis in conjunction with their project partner du.
US Li-Fi market share is projected to grow at 78.0 percent CAGR from 2016 to 2023; it was valued at around $190 million in 2015. The European industry is an early adopter, characterised by considerable research and product development initiatives. High demand for wireless communications across sectors where Wi-Fi cannot be employed will drive growth over the forecast timeframe.
Major industry participants include PureLifi, GE, Philips, Oledcomm, LVX, etc. These players are focusing on merger, acquisitions, and strategic collaborations to enhance their product portfolio. For instance, GE collaborated with Qualcomm to merge lighting and big data to transform retail experience in 2015. In the same year, LVX teamed up with NASA in order to introduce these products for space missions and to develop new application for VLC.
Acuity Brands acquired Bytelight in 2015 with an aim to introduce precise indoor positioning technology for the retail sector. Later that year, it acquired Distech Controls for enhancing the lighting and control equipment portfolio.
PureLifi and France-based Lucibel collaborated for developing and marketing a fully industrialised Li-Fi luminaire.
