Global silicon photonics market worth $23.21 million in 2008, likely to grow exponentially in 2009

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Silicon Photonics Market (2009-2014)" report to its offering.

Increasing need of more sophisticated means of communication is driving the demand for products and devices with high-speed and large bandwidth in data transfer along with low cost and high efficiency.

However, the adoption of optical fibers and other optoelectronic components in the high end devices and applications involved high cost. This fueled the search for a cheaper base material and ended with silicon that began to be used for photonic applications.

The advances in silicon electronics and photonics gave rise to the concept of silicon photonics.

When compared with conventional electronics, silicon photonics provide 90 percent of its efficiency with one-third of power consumption, at one-tenth of the cost and no requirement of additional manufacturing technology. This makes it attractive for customers and lucrative for manufacturers.

Technological advancements, low power consumptions, high bandwidth, high speed, low cost, large application areas, and greener outlook are the main factors that are driving the demand of silicon photonics market. However, high R&D cost, integration and packaging issues, and limited commercialization are restraining the growth of the market.

The reduction in the cost of devices, performance improvement and development of new products will increase the market size of silicon photonics and create plenty of opportunities for early entrants into this market.

Revolutionizing optoelectronics world
Increasing need of more sophisticated means of communication is driving the demand for products and devices with high-speed and large bandwidth in data transfer along with low cost and high efficiency.

However, the adoption of optical fibers and other optoelectronic components in the high end devices and applications involved high cost. This fueled the search for a cheaper base material and ended with silicon that began to be used for photonic applications.

The advances in silicon electronics and photonics gave rise to the concept of silicon photonics. When compared with conventional electronics, silicon photonics provide 90 percent of its efficiency with one-third of power consumption, at one-tenth of the cost and no requirement of additional manufacturing technology. This makes it attractive for customers and lucrative for manufacturers.

In 2008, the market size of global silicon photonics market was at $23.21 million that is expected to grow exponentially at a CAGR of 105.3 percent from 2009 to 2014 due to new products and applications that are to be commercialized in the next five years.

The demand for silicon photonics technology is already created in the market and consumers are awaiting commercialization of products. The silicon photonics market is segmented into silicon waveguides, silicon modulators, silicon optical interconnects wavelength division multiplexer filters, silicon LED and silicon photo detector.

With high fragmentation and intense competition in the microelectronics industry manufacturers of chips and integrated circuits are working to improve the quality and reduce the prices of their products.

Therefore, the expensive ingredients and large R&D investments required for silicon photonics act as a major restraint for the growth of this market. However, the evolution of the silicon photonics market into a mainstream market is expected to overcome all these restraints.

Early commercialization of products and high absorption rate of electronic products have made US the dominant market in 2009 with a 56 percent share of the global silicon photonics product market.

Increased research and developments in the US companies have also helped in the domination of the silicon photonics market. Europe is estimated to be the second largest with 26 percent share of the market.