Photonics Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Photonics Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Global Photonics Market was valued at USD 722.31 billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach USD 1089.00 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of approximately 7.54% during the period 2022-2027.

Key Highlights

• Photonics is widely regarded as a critical enabling technology for the development of smart systems that make efficient use of energy without sacrificing overall system efficiency. Many verticals, including healthcare, automotive, communications, manufacturing, and retail, are leveraging the technology to attain higher efficiency driving the growth. The investments from these sectors also have witnessed significant growth in the recent past.
• With photonics being a core technology of multiple industries, the consumption of the technology is witnessing rapid growth, with the market expanding in new verticals. Thus, the market is witnessing a robust growth rate.
• Over the past few years, there has been an increasing trend of LiDAR or additive manufacturing in photonics. LiDAR has been used to study the distribution of gases and contaminants in the atmosphere for decades. In recent years, it has become a critical technology for autonomous driving. The advancements in LiDAR mapping systems and their enabling technologies penetrated different verticals, like aerospace and defense, corridor mapping and topographical survey, automotive, mining, oil and gas, and other verticals, which are increasing the scope of the market.
• In comparison to conventional products, the high initial cost of silicon-enabled products and devices is hindering the deployment of technology in many fields. While the technology provides higher performance and efficiency, photonics-based devices remain inaccessible to a majority of the small- and medium-sized end-users in various verticals due to limited budgets.
• The COVID-19 outbreak has affected many industries. Due to the nationwide lockdown globally, many photonic devices manufacturing companies face supply chain interruption and manufacturing inefficiency. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has expanded the scope of photonic devices in the healthcare industry. Moreover, with the growing adoption of technologies, like facial recognition amid the pandemic, the scope of photonic sensors may expand due to its technological advancement.

Key Market Trends

Applications of Silicon Photonics to Gain Market Share in Data Communication

• The growing use of optical solutions in communication technologies, such as optical broadband, is expected to be driving the demand for technology in the market, with the segment commanding a prominent share of the market.
• As the growing use of optical networks is part of the infrastructure, the investment from telecommunication companies in enhancing the legacy networks is expected to drive the demand. Telephone companies were the first to replace their old copper wire systems with optical fiber lines. Currently, telephone companies use optical fiber throughout their systems as the backbone architecture and a long-distance connection between the city phone systems.
• Moreover, with the proliferation of technologies and the growing consumption of video content over the internet, the demand for broadband is increasing across the world. According to TeleGeography’s submarine cable map, submarine cables act as the backbone of the internet. There are about 300 subsea cables that interconnect countries and continents.
• In the past few years, cloud and content providers attempted to attract more users and offer reliable bandwidth-intensive services, thus increasing the popularity of the submarine infrastructure. The lifetime of submarine cables is expected to be about 25 years.
• Photonics provides novel and disruptive techniques which are required to cope with the increasing requirements of the bandwidth capacity, particularly in the backbone networks.
• Fiber optics is also capable of handling real-time data collection and transfer, as it can support the bandwidth levels for futuristic technologies, such as 5G, IoT, and Big Data. In the process, mobile edge computing and several small cells (or nodes) are needed to eliminate network bottlenecks. These node deployments often utilize the technology of the millimeter-wave spectrum by relying heavily on the fiber-cabled connections for the backhaul portion of the network.

North America Expected to Register Significant Growth

• The North American photonics market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period, with the United States dominating the regional market. Growth in this region's photonics market is strongly correlated with growth in adjacent markets such as lighting, safety and protection applications, healthcare, and production technology.
• In addition, the United States dominates the data center hardware market, which is still one of the most important applications for photonics. The presence of several market incumbents, such as IBM, Intel Corp., and HP, along with increased access to R&D funds, is expected to drive growth in this region. The United States has the highest concentration of photonics-based application companies that rely heavily on consumer feedback.
• The presence of industry giants such as Microsoft and Facebook is the primary force driving the US market, necessitating the optimization of the data transmission process for respective data centers. The country also provides a favorable environment for technological advancements and expansions. Furthermore, the significant funding landscape in the United States silicon photonics devices industry has encouraged organizations and start-ups to invest in the expanding photonics market.
• Photonics advancements are having a huge impact in many areas of the economy, as well as Canada is well placed on building a strong position in this future industry. It has many world-class physicists and engineers who work in optics and photonics.
• Furthermore, a team of engineers created a new camera design that replaces lenses with an ultra-thin optical phased array (OPA), allowing smartphone manufacturers to make their devices slimmer. Similarly, similar trends are expected to generate significant demand for photonics adoption in the country over the forecast period.
• It is expected that wireless operators in Canada will invest approximately USD 25.8 billion in deploying 5G infrastructure between 2020 and 2026; as a result, the government is also encouraging telecom equipment manufacturing. These initiatives will broaden the scope of the country's 5G infrastructure and provide a massive opportunity for market study vendors.

Competitive Landscape

The photonics market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies, such as expansions, new product launches, partnerships, agreements, joint ventures, and acquisitions, among others, to increase their footprints in this market. Key players in the market are Hamamatsu Photonics KK, Intel Corporation, Alcatel-Lucent SA, etc.

• March 2022 - IPG Photonics recently developed the GLPN-500-R laser, which combines single-mode beam quality, short wavelength, short pulse duration, and higher power to enable the exploration of new applications.
• February 2022 - Intel announced its plan to acquire Tower Semiconductor for USD 5.4 billion. The company will expand its manufacturing capabilities as a foundry and add to its global portfolio as a semiconductor manufacturer. Tower Semiconductor is known for significant partnerships and collaborations for laser-power applications and photonics and semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Israel that will be part of Intel's aggressive plans to expand its semiconductor foundry business.

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