Opto market performs well in 2004

02 Aug 2005

Strong demand for consumer products drives the optoelectronics market to $236 bn.

2004 turned out to be a good year for the optoelectronics industry with demand for displays, LEDs, and CCD/CMOS image sensors showing double-digit growth. That’s the view of an annual report just published by the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA), US.

The report, entitled “Worldwide Optoelectronics Markets - 2004”, says that the total market for ‘components and enabled products’ grew 39% to reach $236 bn from $170 bn in 2003.

Component breakdown

“The performance of the optoelectronics market in 2004 was solid and probably one of the better years in the last decade,” commented Michael Lebby, the president of OIDA, on the results of the new report. “All segments exhibited growth in 2004 except optical fiber and cable which stayed relatively flat, declining slightly by 1%.”

Within the components sector growth was particularly strong in several areas including high-brightness LEDs (up 37%), image sensors (up 34%) and flat-panel displays (up 43%). Important applications fuelling growth included the use of LEDs in display backlights in mobile phones and cars, CCD sensors in digital cameras, and laser diodes in optical storage (CD/DVD) systems.

Better than 2003

The consumer and entertainment market was the fastest growing application, up 72% to $70bn, whereas the communication market grew just 10% to reach $22bn.

“The driving engine for these numbers has been the successful penetration of display-based products and technologies into both the consumer and computer markets,” said Lebby. “In particular, LCD TVs and camera phones have seen strong growth.”

The OIDA is also upbeat about the year ahead, forecasting that a similar performance will continue in 2005 with emerging opportunities in the healthcare, sensors and games markets.

• The 260-page annual report can be purchased directly from the OIDA. This 7th edition includes chapters on optical communications, lasers, LEDs, solar cells, image sensors, displays, nanotechnology and venture capital.

Author
Oliver Graydon is editor of Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.