OCTOBER 25--Stanford Resources-iSuppli (San Jose, CA; www.isuppli.com) has released its report Microdisplays 2002, in which the company forecasts that the world market for microdisplays as components will grow from $668 million in 2001 to $1.9 billion in 2007, for a compounded annual growth rate of 19%, with more than 44 million units shipped in 2007. Kimberly Allen, director of technology and strategic research at Stanford Resources-iSuppli, said: "Unit shipments of microdisplays are dominated by near-eye applications, while market value arises mostly from projection applications. This situation is expected to continue, with projection applications accounting for 74% of the microdisplay market value by 2007, and near-eye applications accounting for 72% of the units."
"LCD (liquid-crystal-display) microdisplays will continue to lead in both shipments and value compared to other technology types," Allen notes. "The prevalence of LCDs will diminish from 89% of the units and 76% of the value in 2001 to 59% of the units and 52% of the value in 2007. This is due primarily to the expected stronger growth of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) technologies."
Unit shipments of LCOS microdisplays overtook those of MEMS displays in 2001 to make LCOS the second most prevalent technology type. This is due to rapid growth in the area of camcorder and camera viewfinders. Overall, LCOS will penetrate the near-eye application market more deeply than the projection market, accounting for 41% of near-eye market value in 2007, compared to 8% of projection market value.
A CD-ROM accompanying each copy of Microdisplays 2002 provides the entire microdisplay market forecast in an interactive database, allowing users to create customized views of the market.
