The global optical coating market size was USD 12.90 Billion in 2022 and is likely to reach USD 24.73 Billion by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 7.5% during 2023–2031. The market growth is attributed to the increasing demand for optical coating devices in industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, eyewear & lenses, and others.
Optical coatings are used in one or more thin layers of materials to improve the transmission, polarization, and reflection properties of optical components. The combination of thin layer materials are metals, oxides, and rare earth materials. Optical coatings are specially designed for a specific polarization of light and angle of light such as P-polarized, S-polarized, and random polarization.
The optical coating is reliant on the number of layers, the thickness of the individual layers, and the refractive index difference between the layer interfaces. Anti-Reflection (AR) coatings, filter coatings, beamsplitter coatings, and highly reflective coatings are the types of coatings used in precision optics. Moreover, eye care professionals recommend a coating to lenses either to improve the quality of the lens or vision while purchasing the new eyeglasses. Different types of coatings such as AR coatings, scratch-resistant coatings, and UV coatings have different benefits for eyeglasses.
For Instance, AR coatings are mostly recommended while purchasing polycarbonate, aspheric lenses, and high-index, since these lenses reflect lighter than CR-39, and glass lenses. AR coatings allow light to pass through the lens, enhance physical appearance, improve night driving, and others are beneficial for anti-reflective coatings.
Additionally, a scratch-resistant coating is also called a hard coat. Plastic lenses are not scratch resistant as compared to glass lenses. A scratch can appear while just cleaning with any wrong type of cloth. Photochromic lenses offer 100% UV protection, as do most high-index lenses and polycarbonate. Some of the sunglasses contain 100% UV protection. Plastic lenses do not contain 100% UV protection, but they block most of the sun’s rays. Since adding a UV coating to the lenses would be a good idea to ensure that the lenses are 100% protected.
COVID-19 Impact on Optical Coating Market
The market report finds that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the growth of the global optical coating market. The lockdowns and other regulations affected various applications such as automotive, aerospace, solar, consumer electronics, and others. The pandemic has severely affected the manufacturing industries, which hindered the growth of the market during the pandemic. In addition, order cancellations and complications in shipping also hampered the market growth.
Optical Coating Market Dynamics
The research report presents a complete market overview by providing detailed information about the current market trends, existing drivers, growth opportunities and potentials, and emerging challenges. The global optical coating market report has up-to-date insights about market scenarios that can shape the overall market performance and output during the forecast period, 2023 to 2031.
Key Trends
Rising Demand for Optical Lenses
The rise in demand for optical lenses is one of the key trends in the global optical coating market. The high demand for optical lens products is due to the increased use of tablets, smartphones, video game consoles, personal computers, and LED displays across the world. The growing need for eye care owing to more screen time is increasing the demand for optical lenses across age groups. Optical lenses and filters are mainly used in the fashion industry which is aiding the growing popularity of optical coating products among young people across the globe. The rise in the use of eye-wears for fashion purposes is also expected to help the market growth.
Rising Use in Medical Components
Medical devices are also increasingly using optics coatings in various ways. Many advanced devices and equipment use optical coatings, such as sensors, biotechnology, lithography, medical devices, and other components. The manufacturing of complicated and technologically advanced components is rising, which is the major trend boosting the optical coating business.
Increasing Demand for Transparent Conductive Coatings
The demand for transparent conductive coatings is increasing in the market, due to the rising manufacturing of light-emitting goods, touchscreen panels, and thin-solar cells. The larger touchscreen panels in flexible devices are becoming popular. The transparent conductive coatings are mainly used indium tin oxide (ITO). Due to their clarity, low-cost deposition, resistance to splitting, conductivity, and others properties silver nanowires have lately emerged as an attractive option.
Drivers
Increasing Demand in Semiconductor and Electronics Industry
The demand in the semiconductor and electronics industry for optical coating is Increasing, which is one of the major factors anticipated to boost the global market growth during the projection period. Semiconductors, telecommunication & optics, high-temperature lamp tubing, and microelectronics industries are mainly using optical coatings materials.
Semiconductors and electronics products use optics coatings to resist high-temperature gradients and high rates of heat transfer. They are usually applied to integrated circuits (ICs), wafers, and printed circuit board (PCB) coating to modify their properties.
Optical coatings allow parts of semiconductors to stand up to the extreme temperature of wafer processing. The use of new-generation wafers in semiconductors has been consistently increasing, owing to the constant development in the semiconductor and electronics industry, which is anticipated to drive the demand for optical coatings.
Rising Demand for Anti-reflective Coating
The demand for anti-reflective coating is rising, which is also expected to fuel global market growth in the coming years. The anti-reflective coating provides high-quality coatings with low anti-reflection and high transmission performance for components such as lenses, anti-reflection coatings, screens, and mirrors that are used in several consumer and industrial applications. The demand for anti-reflective coatings in different industrial products is increasing, this is expected to drive the demand in the optical coating industry.
Restraints
Availability of Raw Materials
The optical coating manufacturing process includes raw materials such as metals, fluorides, and oxides. The raw materials available for optics coatings are highly volatile owing to the variation prices of oxides and metals. The availability of raw materials especially in oxides and metals fluctuates based on the prices of raw materials which affects the manufacturing costs and restrains the growth of the optical coating industry.
Adherence to Environmental Durability Standards
The optical coating products manufacturers require to adhere the environmental durability standards in their products, which is a challenging requirement to fulfill and expected to hamper the market growth. Optical system designers defined coating characteristics and functional requirements which are specified in the coating specification or relevant drawing. The coating specification includes optical modes such as environment durability requirements, widescreen wiper test, laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), and transmission or reflection.
According to American military specifications, the environmental durability of the coating is defined and tested normally. These standards contain test conditions and requirements for the environmental durability of optical coatings. These factors create a challenge for the manufacturers of optical coatings to follow environmental durability standards.
Opportunities
The demand for optical coating in automotive electronics is rising, which is expected to create considerable growth opportunities for the market in the coming years. Optical coatings form is an essential part of advanced automotive electronic devices and systems. The development of advanced driver assistance, communication technology, and entertainment system features are also expected to create an opportunity to develop the optical market during the forecast period.
Scope of Optical Coating Market Report
The global optical coating market research report includes an assessment of the market trends, market segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.
|
Attributes
|
Details
|
|
Report Title
|
Optical Coating Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast
|
|
Base Year
|
2022
|
|
Historic Data
|
2016–2021
|
|
Forecast Period
|
2023–2031
|
|
Segmentation
|
Type (Beamsplitter Coating, Optical Protective, Antireflection Coating, Filter Coating, High Reflective Coating, Electrochromic Coating, Conductive Coating, Partial Reflection Coating, and Others), Technology (Sputtering Process, Vacuum Deposition, Ion-Assisted Deposition [IAD], E-Beam Evaporation, and Others), and End-user (Medical, Military, Electronics & Semiconductor, Defense, Infrastructure, Transportation, Solar Power, and Others)
|
|
Regional Scope
|
Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa
|
|
Report Coverage
|
Company Share, Optical Coating Market Size and Analysis, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Market Trends, and Revenue Forecast
|
|
Key Players Covered in the Report
|
Arkema; Allnex GMBH; DIC CORPORATION; Ashland; Eastman Chemical Company; Byk-Chemie GmbH; Cabot Corporation; Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.; Asahi Kasei Corporation; BAASF SE; INEOS; Evonik Industries; Covestro AG; Dupont; Hexion; DOW; Akzo Nobel N.V.; Parker Hannifin Corp.; Hexion; and Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.
|
Optical Coating Market Segment Insights
Which Major Factors Influence the Significant Growth of the Anti-reflection Segment?
Based on type, the global optical coating market is divided into beamsplitter coating, optical protective, antireflection coating, filter coating, high reflective coating, electrochromic coating, conductive coating, partial reflection coating, and others. Anti-reflection (AR) segment is expected to expand at a significant growth rate during the projected period, due to the increasing demand for the construction of automotive displays, photovoltaic solar panels, and GPS navigation systems.
The anti-reflection coating is also called anti-glare coating. AR coatings are the most refractive optics and are used to maximize throughput and decrease ghosting pictures. AR coatings are crucial systems with several transmitting optical components such as mirrors, display screens, and lenses.
AR-coated optics are used in low-light systems to aid efficient light usage. There are several benefits from AR coatings such as eyeglasses and high-tech equipment, which are made to decrease the light lost to reflection while increasing the quantity of light that penetrates the surface. These factors are boosting the growth of the anti-reflection in the global market.
The conductive coating segment accounts for a significant market share owing to its several advantages. The conductive coatings are protective owing to their several key benefits, which are relevant to the shape and can be added to goods that have already been released or developed.
Some of the popular conductive coatings are used on plastic and composite surfaces such as nickel-loaded paints, silver-plated copper, and silver. Molybdenum disilicide and iron chrome aluminum are employed materials for high-temperature applications. These factors are increasing the growth of conductive coatings and are expected to boost the optical coating market during the forecast period.
What are Major Reasons for Rising Sales in Vacuum Deposition Segment?
On the basis of technology, the market is segregated into the sputtering process, vacuum deposition, ion-assisted deposition (IAD), electron beam (e-beam) evaporation, and others. The vacuum deposition segment is expected to increase the global optical coating industry during the projected period, due to its ability to cure at room temperatures, increase thermal, and improve the reliability, and mechanical strength of electronic devices.
Vacuum deposition is used to define molecule-by-atom or atom-by-atom methods such as low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD), which has developed as a technology in surface engineering treatment.
The electron beam (e-beam) evaporation segment is expected to register a significant growth in CAGR rate during the forecast period. The e-beam evaporation is a time-based technology for producing dense and high-purity coatings. E-beam evaporation is used to deposit a wide range of various types of materials. E-beam evaporation is commonly used for optical thin film optical coating applications such as architectural glass, solar panels eyeglasses, and others.
What are Main Aspects for Boosting the Electronics & Semiconductors Segment?
Based on end-user, the global optical coating market is segmented into medical, military, electronics & semiconductor, defense, infrastructure, transportation, solar power, and others. The electronics & semiconductors segment is holding a major market share of the overall market, due to increasing demand for highly resistant and high electric coating layers in ICs, photovoltaic cells, and other electronic devices.
The increasing use of smartphones and demand for touchscreens, optical add-on kits, displays, and product developments are significantly driving the product demand in consumer electronics. These factors fuel the segment’s growth in the optical coating market.
The military segment is anticipated to register a significant growth rate during the forecast period. Military operations make use of optics, target designators manned & unmanned aircraft guiding systems to satellites, from ground troops’ eyesight, and surveillance equipment.
Military applications such as range finding use thin film optical coatings to alter its reflection and transmission properties, IR countermeasures, and target identification which are utilized in optical components. These factors are expected to boost the military segment in the global market.
Why is North America Dominating the Optical Coating Market?
In terms of region, the global optical coating market is classified as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. North America is projected to dominate the global optical coatings market during the forecast period, due to the high product demand in the well-established healthcare industry, and government military support. The demand for optical coating from the aerospace industry is also high in the region.
Furthermore, manufacturing activities in North America based aerospace industry is growing rapidly due to rising exports of different aircraft components to countries such as France, Germany, and China. Additionally, the industry’s expenditure has also been expanding at a considerable pace on both civilian and military goods.
In addition, there is a significant demand for electronic products to promote new innovative technology industry and research & development activities. Military and electronic equipment has a robust demand for optical coatings, owing to this the US manufacturing facilities and research & development centers are producing high-quality products. These are the major factors that are expected to increase the demand for optical coatings in North America during the forecast period.
Asia Pacific region is expected to dominate the global market during the forecast period, due to increasing demand for optical coatings from the aerospace sector, electronics & semiconductors, and defense sector. The developing countries in the region such as India, South Korea, Japan, and China have a high demand for optical coating products which is boosting the growth of the market.
In addition, consumer electronics have grown in popularity owing to increasing income and improving economic conditions with high discretionary incomes. These factors are likely to increase demand for optical coating in consumer electronics manufacturing industries, aiding the growth of the market size in Asia Pacific.
Segments
The global optical coating market has been segmented on the basis of
Type
- Beamsplitter Coating
- Optical Protective
- Antireflection Coating
- Filter Coating
- High Reflective Coating
- Electrochromic Coating
- Transparent Conductive Coating
- Partial Reflection Coating
- Others
Technology
- Sputtering Process
- Vacuum Deposition
- Ion-Assisted Deposition [IAD]
- E-Beam Evaporation
- Others
End-user
- Medical
- Military
- Electronics & Semiconductor
- Defense
- Infrastructure
- Transportation
- Solar Power
- Others
Region
- Asia Pacific
- North America
- Latin America
- Europe
- Middle East & Africa
Key Players
- Arkema
- Allnex GMBH
- DIC CORPORATION
- Ashland
- Eastman Chemical Company
- Byk-Chemie GmbH
- Cabot Corporation
- Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.
- Asahi Kasei Corporation
- BAASF SE
- INEOS
- Evonik Industries
- Covestro AG
- Dupont
- Hexion
- DOW
- Akzo Nobel N.V.
- Parker Hannifin Corp.
- Hexion
- Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.
Competitive Landscape
The competitive landscape of the global optical coating market report provides key insights into the growth strategies and development initiatives implemented by the key players in the market.
Key players competing in the global optical coating market are Arkema; Allnex GMBH; DIC CORPORATION; Ashland; Eastman Chemical Company; Byk-Chemie GmbH; Cabot Corporation; Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.; Asahi Kasei Corporation; BAASF SE; INEOS; Evonik Industries; Covestro AG; Dupont; Hexion; DOW; Akzo Nobel N.V.; Parker Hannifin Corp.; Hexion; and Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd.
Some of these major companies adopted various business development strategies including mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, collaboration, product launches, and production capacity expansion to expand their consumer base and enhance their market share.
-
In April 2022, Imatest announced a new partnership with Edmund Optics. This partnership is intended to enable the customers to seamlessly buy Imatest software and Charts via the Edmund Optics website and help both the Edmund Optics and Imatest customers develop quality optical systems. The partnership between Imatest and Edmund Optics is aimed to allow imaging customers of the later company to simply access all the necessary tools for evaluating their imaging performance.
-
In April 2022, Carl Zeiss Meditec acquired two manufacturers of surgical instruments to strengthen its positioning as a surgical solution provider. This is an important acquisition for Zeiss Medical Technology that is expected to scale the businesses and contribute to surgical solution offerings and add recurring revenue.
-
In September 2020, DuPont Electronics & Imaging announced a new plant dedicated to liquid polyimide in Korea has been completed. This new plant is to produce liquid polyimide for flexible display substrates to respond to fast-growing business needs in the flexible display market.
Request For Customization
Enquiry Before Buying
Speak With Analyst
