According to a new report from NanoMarkets LC, an industry analyst firm based here, the OLED lighting market will reach almost US $4.5 billion ($US) by 2013 and grow to $5.9 billion by 2015. The firm claims that in the past year the prospects for OLED lighting have made great leaps forward due to improvements in OLED performance and manufacturing. Additional details about the report can be found on the firm's website at www.nanomarkets.net . A companion report addressing OLED materials will be released in early October.

Key findings:

-- The unit costs of OLED lights are likely to remain higher than older general lighting technologies but the extra costs will be offset by improved OLED lifetimes and efficiencies. During 2008, OLED lifetimes improved from 24 Khrs to 100 Khrs. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy now expects OLED lighting to reach 150 lm/W efficiency in 2012 rather than 2014 as previously forecast. NanoMarkets believes that these and other improvements in OLEDs will drive the general illumination market to $2.3 billion in revenues by 2015.

-- Manufacturing processes for OLEDs have also progressed significantly. GE and the Fraunhofer Institute have both demonstrated roll-to-roll manufacturing of OLED lighting which will ultimately lead to significant cost improvements in OLED fabrication. Low cost printing approaches and new small molecule inks will also help propel OLEDs into the backlighting market. NanoMarkets expects that the OLED backlighting market will reach $1.1 billion by 2015. And while the first OLED lighting panels are quite small, the recent scaling up of factories in Asia to build large OLED displays will certainly benefit the manufacturing infrastructure for OLED lighting and lead to larger panels within a few years.

-- The flat and flexible format presented by OLEDs creates an opportunity to design high-value added lighting fixtures with an appeal to upscale consumers and especially architects. During 2008, lighting designer Ingo Maurer introduced the world's first OLED "function table light" and researchers at GE are targeting lighted curtains and lighted wallpaper. By 2015, NanoMarkets projects that sales of OLED architectural and specialist industrial lighting will reach $1.9 billion.

About the report:

The new NanoMarkets report, "OLED Lighting Markets 2008" provides a complete analysis of the commercial opportunities for OLED lighting used for backlighting, general illumination, specialty/architectural lighting, vehicular lighting, signage and niche applications. It also includes detailed eight-year (volume and value) forecasts of these markets for as well as strategic profiles of all the leading firms developing and marketing this emerging technology, as well as the activities of government funded projects in the U.S. and Europe.

About NanoMarkets:

NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in electronics created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to organic, thin film and printable electronics materials and applications. The firm also publishes a blog found at www.nanotopblog.com .
 

SOURCE NanoMarkets LC 

http://www.nanomarkets.net