Emerging Tech Offers Growth in Optoelectronic Components Market

December 20, 2013—In the optoelectronic components market, LEDs dominate with 79 percent of the total market revenues, most of that is in lighting and backlights. However, several new emerging optoelectronic component areas will cause that percentage to fall to 75 percent by 2018, according to an IHS report, Optoelectronic Components – World – 2013.

High-growth areas besides LEDs include high-performance optocouplers, expected to grow from $543 million in 2013 to $677 million in 2018, particularly concentrated in the gate driver market. This growth is partly due to emerging applications in hybrid and electric vehicles, such as PV inverters and smart meters. While these are a small percentage of the overall high-performance optocoupler market, the expected growth rates of 10 to 20 percent through 2018 are enticing suppliers looking for growth opportunities.

Other opportunities are predicted in the consumer electronics space for ambient light sensors in smart phones and tablets, which are expected to reach $379 million in 2018, up from $252 million in 2013. The report also forecasts that new optoelectronics-based gesture control in tablets will emerge starting in 2014 and will reach $244 million in revenues by 2018.