News

28 September 2010

 

ZnO electronics market to grow to $1.3bn by 2015

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is emerging as an important electronics material, with sales of conductive coatings, electrode materials, and electronic devices using ZnO forecast to more than triple to $1.3bn by 2015 then grow to $2.3bn by 2017, according to the new market report ‘Zinc Oxide Markets, 2010 and Beyond’ from industry analyst firm NanoMarkets. 

While some of the hoped-for developments in this part of the electronics market have not materialized, NanoMarkets has identified several areas where ZnO electronics can still expect to achieve growth in the coming years. 

By 2015, the largest single segment of the zinc oxide electronics market will be ZnO light-emitting diodes (LEDs), exceeding $415m, notes the report. Despite the economic turndown, this sector is beginning to grow out of the pure R&D mode, fueled by the boom in energy-efficient lighting. ZnO offers several advantages in the solid-state lighting space, not the least of which is low cost compared with more traditional LED materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and gallium arsenide (GaAs), comments NanoMarkets.

Meanwhile, ZnO is gradually proving itself to be a low-cost electrode material and conductive coating and an alternative to such high-price materials as indium tin oxide (ITO) and silver in display, lighting and photovoltaics applications. Sales of ZnO preparations used in such applications are expected to reach more than $220m by 2015, and they are also expected to become more effective as conventional ZnO is replaced by ZnO nanopowders and nanostructures.

The report also looks at the latest developments in some of the areas of electronics where ZnO has long-term potential, such as ZnO thin-film transistor (TFT) displays and ZnO-based power electronics. 

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