The miniaturization of electronics products, in addition to high penetration of “more than moore” integrated circuit manufacturing technology are two of the major growth drivers for the global thin film material market. The increasing demand of thin film material from emerging MEMS application, increasing demand of power efficiency, supportable government policies, in addition with advancement in IC packaging technology has lifted up the growth of the thin film material market during the recent years. The factors, such as low conversion efficiency and large research and development (R&D) expenditure are hindering the growth of the market up to some extent. The shortage of raw materials, along with the scarcity of bulk raw material suppliers is increasing the gap between the demand and supply, and thus hindering the growth of the global market. However, the government subsidies along with increasing venture capital funding post economic slowdown, is expected to boost the growth of the global market during the forecast period.
Thin film materials are widely used in the hard drive and MEMS inkjet heads. It is also used in MEMS wafer level, MEMS ultrasonic transducers, RF MEMS, infrared sensors, IPD tunable capacitors, and others. With the increasing concern over global warming and climatic changes, the governments in many countries are focusing towards renewable and clean energy sources, such as solar power. The policy makers in Japan, China and India, invested heavily on the development of mega solar power projects during the recent years, which in turn is expected to boost the demand of thin film materials market during the forecast period.
The functional advantages of thin film materials, such as flexibility and compatibility are expected to propel the growth of the global thin film material market during the forecast period. The increasing investment in research and development activity, application of thin film materials in the renewable energy generation, and distribution is creating new opportunities for the growth of the thin film materials market.
Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest and fastest growing market of thin film materials in 2014, owing to the high concentration of the IC foundries, and growth of solar power projects in the region. Country wise, China and Japan are the major markets of thin film materials in Asia-Pacific. The North American market is growing with a significant pace, owing to high demand of thin film material from IC manufacturing industries. The European market is expected to witness below average growth during the forecast period, owing the outward migration of semiconductor industries along with the increasing IC foundry outsourcing services from Asia-Pacific and other developing countries. The thin film material market in Latin America, Middle-East, and Africa are fairly at nascent stage. Brazil is expected to be major market of thin film materials in Latin America, during the forecast period.
Some of the competitors in the global thin film material market are Ascent Solar Technologies Inc., Cicor Technologies Ltd., Kaneka Solar Energy, Moser Baer India Ltd., Trony Solar Holding Co. Ltd., and First Solar Inc. & Company.
Thin Film Material Market Segmentation
By Technology
- Cadmium Telluride (CDTE)
- Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide-Disulphide (CIGS
- Amorphous Silicon (A-Si)
- Other technologies
By End Users
- Photovoltaic Solar Cell
- Microelectromechnical (MEMS)
- Electrical and Electronics Circuit Board
- Optical Coating
- Others
By Geography
- North America
- Europe
- Asia-Pacific
- Rest of the World
