Holographic Market Estimated at $2.8 Billion for 1998

Holographic optical elements are the secret behind brighter lights and faster CD-ROMs, and they have emerged as an increasingly important area of growth in the $18 billion optoelectronic component market.

In a recent study, Business Communications Co. Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., projects that the worldwide industrial holography market will reach $2.8 billion for 1998. The total US market for industrial holography is $1.7 billion. The two largest segments of the worldwide market are holographic scanning and testing.
The report states that the arrival of the first prototypical optical computers, which use holograms as storage material for data, could have a dramatic impact on the overall holography market. The yet-to-be-unveiled optical computers will be able to deliver trillions of bits of information faster than the current generation of computers. The report forecasts that they will be adopted as servers for industrial and corporate applications.