MARKET NEWS

Optical Components for Smartphones Account for More Than 70% of the Entire Market

Optical components are the main apparatus in optical systems using optical principles for various observation, measurement, analysis and recording, information processing, image quality evaluation, energy transmission and conversion, such as lenses, filters, beam splitters, polarizers, waveplates, prisms, etc.

Data from Optical Components and Instruments Branch and China Optical Opto-Electronics Industry Association show that the market scale of optical lenses, lenses, modules and other components in China reached 2000 million USD in 2019, an increase of more than 30% over 2018. In 2020, the market size of optical lenses, lenses, modules and other components was about 221538 million USD, with a year-on-year growth of 8%, and the growth rate slowed down year-on-year.

Source: Optical Components and Instruments Branch, China Optics and Optoelectronics Industry Association, Market Monitor Co., Limited

By application, the main downstream market of optical components are smart phones, security, automotive, photographic projection, etc. The rest of the application areas are AR/VR on behalf of the new consumer electronics, smart home, medical, communications, industrial testing and manufacturing, astronomy, national defense, aerospace, etc.

With the explosive development and popularity of smart phones, the optical components and lenses for smart phones market has become the largest market value in the entire optical field, rapid and frequent technological innovation, optical components and lenses for cell phones account for more than 70% of the overall optical market share. Optical lenses and modules are the core of imaging and image transmission, and are the "eyes" of each downstream application area, and their importance is increasingly prominent.

With the progress of science and technology, production technology innovation, modern optics and optoelectronics in technology and application areas closely cross, mutual integration, optical imaging, perception and display applications are increasingly widespread. Downstream smartphone camera, identification module upgrade, the maturity of self-driving technology, security surveillance cameras to the intelligence of the popularity of drones, etc., will directly drive the market demand for optoelectronic devices. At the same time, with the development of mobile communication technology from 4G to 5G, the application of biometric technology in consumer electronics, the improvement of chip materials and other external technological advances, the optoelectronic device industry ushered in a good opportunity for development.

Source: Market Monitor Co., Limited

Smartphones remain the most important market for optical components, accounting for more than 70%. In 2021, the size of the optical components industry for cell phones will be about USD 16923 million, essentially flat year-on-year. Security monitoring market is experiencing from standard definition, prime focus to HD, zoom, intelligence, night vision shift upgrade period, and the industry positioning of security monitoring is changing from public safety to social services, new market demand continues to emerge. In 2021, the production and sales of security monitoring lenses continued to grow, and the corresponding industrial scale was about 1154 million USD, with a year-on-year growth of more than 20%. Electrification and intelligentization drive the automotive industry to maintain high attention and high growth, driving the on-board camera market scale continues to grow. In 2021, the market scale of on-board cameras and modules is about 1538 million USD, with a year-on-year growth of more than 20%. Photo projection is the traditional application area of optical components, led by the trend of intelligence, SLR cameras, sports photography, intelligent projection and other products have been integrated with intelligent networking and other features to attract consumers, driving sales growth, corresponding to the scale of optical components of about 1538 million USD, a slight increase year-on-year.

With the progress of technology, car camera, smart home aspects of the demand for higher requirements for camera clarity, product upgrades and iterations stimulate the demand for optical lenses and optical components, optical components market size is expected to further expand.