TAIPEI, Jan. 20 -- Taiwan's photonics industry's output was $27.3 billion (NT$921.4 billion) in 2004, an increase of 36 percent over the previous year's level, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA).
As reported by the Asia Pulse, PIDA officials said Taiwan's photonics industry "looks promising in light of the fact that its production and global market share have been increasing in recent years."
The industry's output accounted for 14 percent of the world's total in 2004, up two percentage points over the figure recorded a year earlier, PIDA said, and the global photonics market is estimated to reach $197.9 billion in 2004. The total production of Taiwan's photonics industry is expected to reach the NT$1 trillion mark this year, while its global market share will continue to expand, PIDA predicted.
"Since the global photonics market weakened for the first time in 2001, it gradually came out of the shadows in 2003," PIDA said in a statement. It said the global photonics market reached $184.2 billion US dollars in 2003, up 15 percent from 2002.
The application market for consumer electronic products will lead the way in growth, PIDA said. LEDs used as the backlight source for cellular phones will be a "revolutionary progress" for the illumination market, according to the group.
"TFT-LCD panels have already been applied fully in notebook computers. While the LCD monitors are going to broadly replace CRT monitors, TFT-LCD panels for the home theater market will definitely be the next target," PIDA said.
The optical storage market will "definitely change again," it added. "For example, one change will be the replacement of traditional VHS recorders by rewritable DVDs. In the area of optical input and output devices, scanners -- which used to predominate the market -- have yielded the lead to digital cameras and picture cellular phones. Even optical communications, which is a basic component of telecom infrastructure, focuses on the consumer market and expects to explore the broadband market. It is expected that digital cameras, camera phones and LCT TVs will become the leading products in the upcoming year."
PIDA is a cosponsor, with SEMI, of Photonics Festival 2005, to be held Jun 8-11 at the Taipei World Trade Center. The exhibition includes OPTO Taiwan, OptoCom Taiwan, the new LED Lighting Taiwan and the concurrent flat panel display industry exhibition, FPD Taiwan.
For more information, visit: www.pida.org.tw