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Market Overview

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The global Precision Optics market is projected to reach $60.03 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 11.1% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2033. One of the major factors driving the market is the increasing demand for precision optical components in consumer electronics and biomedical devices. This has led to a significant demand for components such as lenses, mirrors, windows, and filters. The sales of computers, television sets, and smartphones have seen substantial growth, likely accelerated by COVID-19 restrictions and increased time spent at home for work and learning. For example, tablet computer sales reached nearly $60 billion in 2020. Additionally, the adoption of smart medical devices has been rapidly increasing, with approximately two million different devices in more than 7,000 categories recorded in 2021 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These factors contribute to the growing need for precision optical components to ensure continuous operation with high precision.

However, the complexity of advanced precision optical systems has resulted in higher component costs. Furthermore, the shortage of skilled workers in the optics industry poses a significant challenge to the market’s growth. Supply chain constraints, inflation, geopolitical issues, and market volatility also present obstacles to the precision optics market’s expansion.

Precision optics are extensively used in various optical components for autonomous vehicles, including radars, lasers, sensors, cameras, and others. The adoption of autonomous vehicles offers benefits such as labor cost savings and up to a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions through optimized driving. As the use of autonomous vehicles continues to increase, the demand for precision optics is expected to rise in the future.

In addition, the medical industry is increasingly focusing on the development of smart disease detection equipment and smart medical wearables that rely on precision optical components like lenses, windows, and filters.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting global lockdowns had a detrimental impact on the precision optics market in 2020. Production halts, disruptions in supply chains, and reduced manufacturing activities were observed. For example, Panasonic Corporation reported an 11% decrease in sales revenue in the fiscal year 2021 compared to the previous year, mainly attributed to the spread of COVID-19 and deconsolidation in housing-related businesses. Nikon Corporation also experienced a 23.7% decline in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2021, with adverse impacts on its imaging products business, precision equipment business, and industrial metrology segments. However, the healthcare business segment showed slight revenue growth compared to the previous fiscal year.

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Market Segmentation

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The market is segmented based on various factors, including end user, component, and region.

Segmentation by End User
Consumer Electronics
Aerospace and Defense
Semiconductor
Automotive
Biomedical
Manufacturing
Others

Segmentation by Component
Transmissive – Filters, Prisms, Lenses, Windows, Polarizers, Beamsplitters, and Others
Reflective, Mirrors, Retroreflectors, and Others

Segmentation by Region
North America – U.S., Canada, and Mexico
Europe – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Rest-of-Europe (RoE)
China
U.K.
Asia-Pacific and Japan – Japan, India, South Korea, and Rest-of-Asia-Pacific and Japan
Rest-of-the-World

In 2021, the consumer electronics segment emerged as the dominant and largest segment in the precision optics market. This was driven by the increasing sales of smart electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and augmented and virtual reality devices. Precision optical components such as lenses, mirrors, windows, and filters are integral to manufacturing the lighting, sensing, detection, and other parts of consumer electronic devices. They find applications in a wide range of consumer electronic products including smartphones, tablets, and digital cameras. As the global demand for consumer electronics continues to grow, manufacturers are striving to deliver high-quality products. In imaging applications, precision optics made from polymers are used in devices such as smart cameras. The requirements for sensors in consumer electronics include high signal-to-noise ratio, low battery consumption, and compact size, in which precision optics play a crucial role. Thin precision optics based on diffractive optics or meta-lenses are primarily used in consumer electronics applications. The precision optics applications in consumer electronics can be broadly categorized into four segments: IR lighting and IR cameras for gesture control (TV, gaming), backlights and covers for displays (TV, tablet, laptop, and smartphone), optics for VR glasses, and camera lenses for telecommunication and photography (TV, tablet, laptop, and smartphone).

In terms of components, the transmissive segment dominated the precision optics market in 2021. This segment is the largest due to the increasing demand from various industries such as consumer electronics, medical devices, aerospace and defense, and semiconductors. Transmissive components have gained popularity because of their higher efficiency in light transmission. The growing demand for high-precision sensors, detectors, lighting components, and other components has attracted the attention of industrialists, thereby driving the demand for transmissive components. Precision lenses, a type of optical lens designed to produce highly accurate and precise images, are widely used across applications such as microscopy, imaging, and measurement systems that require high resolution and precision. These lenses are manufactured to tight tolerances using high-quality optical glass or other materials. Different types of precision lenses, such as plano-convex lenses, double-convex lenses, achromatic lenses, and aspherical lenses, serve specific purposes like focusing light rays, magnification, color aberration correction, and reducing spherical aberrations.

China and North America are expected to witness significant growth in precision optics production at the global level. China dominates the precision optics market due to its large manufacturing industry for consumer electronics, medical devices, self-driving vehicles, and semiconductors. The country’s fast-growing economy and the presence of leading industry players throughout the precision optical component supply chain have a substantial impact on the market’s growth in this region. With its vast population and booming economy, China possesses the largest customer base for precision optical components. According to China’s Internet Information Center, the country has surpassed the US as the world’s largest exporter of electronic goods, including laptops, computers, and mobile phones. Additionally, China boasts the largest automotive industry in both internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles. The healthcare medical device market in China has also witnessed rapid growth, reaching $130 billion in 2020. As these industries are major end-users of precision optical components such as lenses, mirrors, and windows, their growth is expected to drive substantial demand for precision optics components during the forecast period from 2022 to 2031.

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Competitive Landscape

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Key companies profiled in this report include Optics & Allied Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Corning Incorporated, Edmund Optics Inc., Materion Corporation, Momentum Optics, Newport Corporation, Nikon Corporation, Optics & Allied Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Opto Precision Pte. Ltd., Panasonic Holdings Corporation, PFG Optics, Precision Optical, Precision Optics Corporation, Inc., Rochester Precision Optics, LLC, Shanghai Optics, Sierra Precision Optics, Solaris Optics, WayRay AG, ZEISS International.

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Recent Industry Developments

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In December 2022, Precision Optics Corporation, Inc. announced the receipt of a subsequent production order totaling approximately $2.6 million for optical assembly from a prominent U.S. defense contractor. Furthermore, the completion of this order is expected within the next 12 to 18 months.

In October 2021, Precision Optics Corporation, Inc. disclosed a strategic merger with privately held company Lighthouse Imaging LLC. This merger aims to capitalize on the cutting-edge optical imaging electronics of Lighthouse Imaging LLC, in conjunction with Precision Optics Corporation’s next-generation micro-optics capabilities, to provide enhanced solutions to customers, particularly in the medical optics and digital imaging sectors.

In August 2021, Edmund Optics Inc. made an announcement regarding the relocation of its regional office in South Korea to a larger facility situated in the Mapo district of Seoul. The objective of this move is to facilitate improved internal and external collaboration, streamlined communication, enhanced services, the establishment of a specialized technical support laboratory, and convenient accessibility for visits.

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Key Questions Answered

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What are the prevailing trends in the global precision optics market, and what are the key drivers, challenges, and opportunities for industry players?

Which major patents have been filed by companies actively operating in the precision optics market?

What was the impact of the U.S.-China trade war on the precision optics market, and how has it disrupted the supply chain?

What measures have existing players taken to enhance or maintain their market positioning, and what strategies have new entrants adopted in this market space?

Which components and end users are leading in the market, and how are they projected to perform in the coming years?

What is the expected pricing trend for precision optical components during the forecast period?

What ongoing technological advancements are taking place in the precision optics market, and how are they anticipated to impact the market in the near future?