Electronics.ca Research Network

Quantum dots will cascade into the marketplace. They offer lower cost, longer life, and brighter lighting.  The commercialization of quantum dots using kilogram quantity mass production is a game-changer. High quality, high quantity and lowest price quantum dots increase product quality in every industry. The rate of change means speeded products cycles are evolving. Once manufacturers learn to integrate higher efficiency luminescent quantum dots into their products, each vendor will need to follow or dramatically lose market share. This level of change brought by quantum dot and quantum dot displays (QLED) represents a new paradigm that will create new industries, products and jobs in science and industry. The list of possible quantum dot applications is ever expanding. New applications are waiting for the availability of more evolved quantum dots. Quantum Dot LED (QLED) commercial focus has remained on key optical applications: Optical component lasers are emerging as a significant market. LED backlighting for LCD displays, LED general lighting, and solar power quantum dots are beginning to reach the market. Vendors continue to evaluate other applications.

Growth in consumption of rare earths is being driven to a large extent by the utilization of these materials in mechanical/metallurgical applications, primarily for the fabrication of permanent magnets. The mechanical/metallurgical sector is estimated to account for 32.1% of total rare earth oxide (REO) consumption for 2011. This trend should continue for 2012 but no total geological data have yet been accumulated for 2012. Other sectors of application for rare earth materials are within the glass and ceramics; energy; chemical; and electronics, optics and optoelectronics sectors, which combined account for 65.4% of total REO consumption. Other sectors (such as life sciences, sensors and instrumentation, and consumer) account for a combined share of 2.5%. Consumption of rare earths is projected to continue growing during the next five years, primarily driven by the energy and electronics and optoelectronics sectors. High-growth applications in these sectors include batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), advanced displays and solid-state lighting.

Process Control is considered a key portion of the greater industrial market, and as a result is highly influenced by those factors that affect the manufacturing industry. This industry also includes building controls, such as HVAC, and commercial controls, such as inventory control products.  Manufacturing controls are slated to account for over $85 billion in revenue for the year and 54 percent of the process control electronics for the year, while commercial-grade controls will reach $72.8 billion and will make up the remaining 46 percent of revenue.  The semiconductor market for process control is projected to reach nearly $7.1 billion in worldwide 2013 revenue, a slight increase of 5 percent from 2012, with average annual growth projected at 7 percent over the next five years. Total unit shipments will also grow by 5 percent from 2012 to 2013 and will grow at a CAGR of 7 percent over the period. ASPs (Average Selling Prices) will remain relatively flat at $0.40 over the foreseeable future. 

Industry roadmaps predict the future in many ways, beginning with an in-depth analysis of the technologies used in their industry. They can also herald shifts in the way that an industry is meeting its challenges. The 2013 IPC International Technology Roadmap for Electronic Interconnections marks a shift that's occurring throughout the electronics industry: there's more cooperation and information sharing. As technologies get more complex, it's critical to have information on all aspects that impact a technology, from initial design to manufacturing processes and products. IPC is meeting this challenge by working closely with iNEMI, among others, helping in some research projects and gleaning data from areas that are at the core of iNEMI's roadmapping efforts. The IPC roadmap also utilizes information from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, as well as from the Japan Printed Circuit Association (JPCA).

European Union leaders have shown their interest in the development of a strong European telecommunications market that can underpin growth and job creation across the region. The GSMA welcomes this and now calls on the European Commission to seize the opportunity to drive regulatory reform and encourage the investments in telecoms infrastructure required to achieve Europe’s Digital Agenda targets. Progress towards a true, pan-European, competition-based telecoms market could provide a significant boost to GDP, innovation and investment in the EU 27 and establish a convergent path between the performance of the EU broadband market and that of the United States, which has, over the past decade, delivered substantially higher levels of investment.

Seven O-S-D product categories and device groups reached record-high sales in 2012 compared to 14 new records being set in 2011, according to data shown in the 2013 edition of  O-S-D Report - A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes. Figure 1 shows that in 2012, two sales records were achieved in optoelectronics, four in sensors/actuators (including total sensor sales), and one in discretes. Ten new sales records are expected to be set in the O-S-D markets in 2013. All the products are forecast to grow by moderate percentages in 2013, which will lift them again to new record-high levels. Total sales of MEMS-based products are expected in rise 9% in 2013 and reach a new annual record of $7.6 billion, surpassing the current peak of $7.1 billion set in 2011. CMOS image sensors were the fastest growing O-S-D product category in 2012 with sales rising 22% to a new record-high $7.1 billion, blowing past the previous peak of $5.8 billion set in 2011. Since the 2009 downturn year, CMOS image sensor sales have climbed 85% due to the strong growth of embedded cameras used in smartphones and portable computers (including tablets) and the expansion of digital imaging into more systems applications. CMOS designs are now grabbing large chunks of marketshare from CCD image sensors, which are forecast to see revenues decline by a CAGR of 2.4% between 2012 and 2017. Sales of CMOS imaging devices are projected to grow by a CAGR of about 12.0% in the forecast period and account for 85% of the total image sensor market versus 15% for CCDs in 2017. This compares to a 60/40 split in 2009.

The LEDs segment is expected to have the largest market share with an expected value of $7.5 billion in 2017 after increasing at a five-year CAGR of 39%. The larger context for photonic crystals is that they are being pitched as a collective alternative to present-day semiconductor fabrication. The state –of –the art in photonic crystal fabrication, however, is in no position to challenge complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication processes. It will require an enormous amount of technological advancement to make a compelling business case for photonic crystals to replace present-day electronics. Photonic crystals are integrated at various levels in device-manufacturing life cycles. The predominant mode of integration is that the component or module level serves as a substitute for enhancement for existing conventional materials. It is therefore suitable to consider components and modules as the primary classification criteria for determining the market dynamics of photonic crystals. It is indisputable that all of the components and modules have independent dynamics when it comes to their applications and regional implementations. A breakdown along these lines provides insight into these dynamics.

The term "Smart Lighting" refers to the environment controlled by lighting control systems. In brief, lighting control systems use factors such as occupancy, available daylight, and time of day to turn lights on or off accordingly, thus providing noteworthy energy and cost savings. There is a demand supply gap in the power sector and to overcome this problem smart lighting is a perfect solution. The demand of intelligent lighting controls for lighting is increasing in a tremendous way and this further supports the exponential growth potential of smart lighting. This report covers the"Global Smart Lighting market" and all its market aspects with future opportunities, drivers, restraints and others in detail. Lighting control systems energy efficiency, development in electronics and sensor technology, eradication of incandescent lamps, favorable government policies and evolution of novel wireless technology are the key drivers behind the incredible growth of smart lighting market. This report describes different lighting types used in Smart lighting control systems such as light emitting diode (LED), fluorescent lamps (FL), compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), and high intensity discharge lamps (HID). Among all the other lighting types, LED lamps offer highest growth potential which is appealing many startups and big players to develop smart lighting solutions such as GreenWave realitys GreenChip-enabled light bulb, NXPs GreenChip iSSL wireless solution for LED bulbs and Philips Hue smart LED bulb. The report also explains various components used in the smart lighting market such as sensors, controllers and chipsets. The market for these components is also expected to have a high potential in the upcoming future.

The growth of touch-enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, will drive worldwide cover glass shipments to more than 1.5 billion in 2013 and more than 2.5 billion by 2017, according to the new Touch Panel Cover Glass Report.  Cover glass shipments increased 44% in 2012, with more than three-quarters of that growth coming from mobile phones.  In 2012, mobile phone cover glass shipments increased 40% Y/Y, accounting for 84% of total shipments.  Fueled by smartphone adoption, mobile phones are on track to remain the dominant driver for cover glass, with shipments forecast to reach more than 2 billion by 2017. However, with increasing global smartphone penetration, growth is expected to slow to 21% Y/Y in 2014.

Total North American PCB shipments were down 1.1 percent in January 2013 from January 2012, and bookings decreased 4.0 percent year over year. Month-to-month growth rates are not available in January due to the change in IPC's survey sample as of the first of the year. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American PCB industry crossed into positive territory in January and stands at 1.01. The information in IPC's monthly PCB industry statistics is based on data provided by a representative sample of both rigid and flexible PCB manufacturers in the USA and Canada.