Microdisplays industry: an explosive ecosystem mixing technical innovations, strategy games and attractive applications

“A CAGR of more than 100% is expected in microdisplay modules for emerging applications, to reach a market value of US$4.2 billion.” asserts Zine Bouhamri, PhD, Technology & Market Analyst, within the Photonics, Sensing & Display division at Yole Développement (Yole).“That is of course if the use cases are found, and if the technologies can deliver on their promises“.

For the past few years, AR headsets have been a dream, with no credible alternative but to use microdisplays. A big microdisplay development effort has been observed for such applications in the consumer market, mainly for OLED-on-Si and microLEDs. But in the meantime, LCOS and DLP have the lion’s share. For major brands, AR would trigger the next consumer electronics revolution. But, at the end of the day, it remains a dream.
There is still the need to find a compelling use case to convince the consumer. Yole’s analysts assume that this will eventually happen, but device maker OEMs will need to step up their game. With the 2023 target in mind, Yole shall expect better use case demonstrations over the next couple of years. Were that to happen, analysts expect the microdisplay module market for AR headsets would grow at a 110% CAGR until 2025, to reach US$1.8 billion.

In this context, Yole investigates disruptive technologies and related markets in depth, in order to point out the latest innovations and underline the business opportunities. Released today, the Microdisplays – Market, Industry and Technology Trends 2020 report gives detailed analysis of key applications requiring microdisplays, related industrial, technological ecosystems, future trends and evolution of application landscapes. Including technical analysis of microdisplay technologies, associated roadmaps, market forecasts for microdisplay modules per application, supply chain, recent progress and future trends, this study aims to understand the status of the microdisplay technologies. It also gives insights into microdisplay modules volumes and values by application. More info.