Chapter 6: High Brightness Leds (Hbleds)

The report discusses the traditional optoelectronics components such as semiconductor diode and nondiode lasers, light emitting diodes (LED), flat panel displays (FPD), photodetectors, optical fiber, optical connectors, solar cells, and image sensors. The report also includes nanotechnology optoelectronics components, which now offer excellent potential to enable optoelectronics systems of the future. Nanotechnology is an area for which there is no substantial market as yet, but which is likely to become more important as the technology advances.

This report makes a distinction between “OE components” and “OE-enabled products and systems.” OE components are the accepted devices, packages, modules, and sub-product parts of products and systems. OE-enabled products and systems include equipment and other products that are not primarily composed of optoelectronics components but would not be possible without them. Key examples would be consumer entertainment systems, display-based viewing products, and fiber-based communications equipment.

While it is not possible to list every product that falls into the OE-enabled category, the key products are reviewed. This year, OIDA has made extensive efforts to cover those OE components that are sourced and manufactured in Asia. Although these components may ultimately end up in products for the U.S. market, a review of the market trends for these components gives OIDA a better picture of the industry and its health. This higher confidence level in the data has allowed OIDA to think carefully through decadal forecasts for the key market segments. By including a broader range of OE components and OE-enabled products and systems, we gain an understanding of the scope of applications of optoelectronics components and we are able to get a measure of their economic impact. There is only limited effort to eliminate the optoelectronics component content of enabled products and systems in this report, which means that to a large extent there exists some overlap.

Figure 1.1 shows the total OE-enabled and components markets spanning 12 years, from 2005 to 2017. Years 2005 and 2006 are shaded darker because the revenue totals are now historical. Revenue for 2006 totaled $565 billion, a 14.5% increase from the $494 billion total in 2005. The anticipated growth of the OE-enabled and components markets for the decade is strong, with revenue expected to surpass $1.2 trillion by 2017, a 2007-2017 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7%. Of all the OE components, the biggest driver for the growth of this market is liquid crystal displays (LCD) that will enable a variety of consumer-based products.

The total market, including both OE-enabled products and systems and OE components, is shown in Figure 1.1. The breakdown of the two segments is shown in Figure 1.2 (with years 2005 and 2006 shaded darker than the forecast areas of the graph). OE components achieved revenue of $315 billion in 2006, a growth of 13% from the previous year. OE-enabled products and systems had a slightly higher rate of growth, 16.4%, in 2006, for total revenue of $250 billion compared to $215 billion in 2005.

Over the next decade, both OE-enabled products and systems and OE components are expected to grow steadily and each is expected to top $600 billion by 2017. The revenue forecast for OE-enabled products and systems is more than $607 billion in 2017, with a 2007-2017 CAGR of 8.5%. In 2017, OE components revenue will near $675 billion, with a 2007-2017 CAGR of 7.1%. The 2007-2017 CAGR for these segments together is expected to be 7.7%.