German Photonics Industry Report Shows Dynamic Growth

19 June, 2015—The German industry association Photonics Market Research Work Group, formed via a partnership of industry associations SPECTARIS, VDMA and ZVEI, released a report this week on the state of the photonics market in Germany. The “Photonics Industry Report: Current Situation 2015” forecasts that the photonics industry can expect stable growth in Germany of 1.5 times the global domestic product for the next five years, reaching a market volume of €615 billion by 2020, based on a market of €350 billion in 2011.

The Swiss consulting firm Optech Consulting estimates that the production volume of photonics companies in Europe grew by 3 percent to €60 billion in 2014, following two weak years in 2012 and 2013, mainly due to weakness in the photovoltaics sector. According to VDMA, production volume of laser systems will also return to higher growth of 11 percent in 2014, after a slower 8 percent growth in 2013. The production volume growth rate for photonics in Germany is therefore higher than the global growth rate of the market, estimated to be 8 percent. Germany also owns 78 percent of the export market of laser systems.
 
While the German photonics industry reached production volume of €30 billion in 2014, which is 8 percent of the global market, other areas of production growth in Germany estimated for 2014 include laser sources (5 percent), industrial image processing (16 percent) and lithography for semiconductor equipment (15 to 16 percent). German market share in outdoor LED lighting exceeded 50 percent.