Quantum dots point to a $721.1 million market

Caren B. Les, caren.les@laurin.com

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The value of the global market for quantum dot technology is expected to reach $28.6 million in 2008 and to rise to $721.1 million in 2013, with a compound annual growth rate of 90.7 percent, according to a technical market research report from BCC Research of Wellesley, Mass. Published in September 2008, the report is titled “Quantum Dots: Technical Status and Market Prospects” (Report Number: NAN027B).

A projection of the global market growth for quantum dots in promising commercial market sectors is shown in USD millions from 2008 through 2013. Courtesy of BCC Research.

The recent commercial availability of colloidal quantum dots, which are now synthesized by less expensive wet-chemical processes, has made the particles accessible to a broader customer base.

The market consists of the application areas of stand-alone colloidal quantum dots, solar energy, electronics, optoelectronics and optics.

One segment now active

The only currently active segment, stand-alone colloidal particles, is expected to have revenues of $28.6 million in 2008 and of more than $106 million in 2013, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 30 percent. Several new products based on colloidal or in situ quantum dots are expected to drive revenues within the next two years. Colloidal quantum-dot bioconjugates, among the first commercial applications in this sector, provide cellular imaging and therapeutic detection capabilities for the life sciences and biomedical communities.

The optics segment will show strong growth in 2009 as the use of quantum-dot-based lasers and other optical components in telecommunications applications increases. The segment is expected to be worth $52 million in 2010 and more than $212 million in 2013, resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 59.8 percent.

In the electronics sector, the introduction of quantum-dot-based flash memory products is expected to generate $45.8 million in 2010 and $61 million in 2013, for a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent.

Quantum dots for applications in optoelectronics and solar energy are expected to launch in 2010. The report projects that the optoelectronics segment will have revenues of $90 million in 2011 and of $245.7 million in 2013, for a compound annual growth rate of 65.2 percent.

It also notes that there are now prototypes of semiconductor quantum dots that could improve the performance of flexible organic and solid-state white LEDs, and those that could be used in flexible solar panel coatings. These developments are poised for commercialization, according to the report.