How much potential does IR LED, which Osram is optimistic about, have?

Planck Optoelectronics will answer for you:

On February 14, a spokesperson for Osram revealed that it is expected that the demand for infrared LED components will increase in the near future. There has been a huge increase, including the application of infrared LEDs combined with iris recognition in mobile devices and other hot markets. Therefore, the factory in Regensburg, Germany is expected to recruit about 1,000 new employees. Although Osram is selling its lighting business, it continues to expand its R&D personnel in IR LED. How big is the infrared LED market, and is it worthy of Osram's heavy investment?

IR LED annual compound growth rate reaches 24%

IR LED is infrared LED. It is a near-infrared light-emitting device that converts electrical energy into light energy. It has small size and high functionality. It has a series of advantages such as low power consumption and good directivity.

According to the characteristics of IR LED chips, infrared LED products of different wavelengths can be applied to different fields, such as: remote controls, medical equipment, space optical communications, infrared lighting, solid laser pump sources, Automatic card swiping systems, cameras, surveillance, building intercoms, anti-theft alarms, etc. on highways. As the development and application of high-power infrared accelerates, the R&D focus of IR LED manufacturers has also shifted from application markets with low added value such as remote controls, mice, and communications to high-end applications such as mobile phones, vehicles, security control products, infrared surveillance, and infrared medical care. Value-added market applications.

In the field of security monitoring, in addition to network surveillance cameras using IR 850 nm and 940 nm band LEDs, there are also night vision (Night Vision) systems installed in car headlights, which can increase the driving field of view. 150 to 200 meters, and also clearer. Night vision systems should have the largest demand for IR LEDs, and Osram has always been an industry leader in this area.

In addition to the monitoring field, it is widely used in the sensor field. In addition to proximity sensor (Proximity Sensor) modules for smartphones and wearable devices, it also includes promising bio-sensor (Bio-Sensor) applications.

For example, to detect heartbeat and blood oxygen, the former uses IR 530 nm, 660 nm, and 940 nm LEDs, while the latter uses IR 660 nm and 940 nm LEDs. In addition, for iris recognition applications that require special wavelengths, IR 810 nm LEDs are generally suitable, which has considerable advantages in competition.

With the rise of the modern Internet of Things, biometric identification, and wearable devices, various sensors and image recognition technologies have become increasingly important. The application characteristics of IRLED have made it an important auxiliary light source. And by combining the sensing device and recognition technology, it can be used in special applications such as iris recognition and facial recognition. Or it can be applied to biosensors in wearable devices, which can quantify the physiological state of the human body and become a new tool for health management. Given the surge in infrared LED penetration in smartphones, automobiles, surveillance systems and other applications, the Asia-Pacific region will become the world's largest infrared LED market segment.

Global output value of IR LED from 2015 to 2020

According to relevant data, the market size of infrared LED used in security monitoring was US$94 million in 2014, and has grown to 1. $200 million. However, due to fierce price competition among LED manufacturers and the fact that more and more manufacturers are beginning to reduce costs by reducing chip size and changing packaging forms, the output value of infrared LEDs for security monitoring applications increased slightly in 2016. According to the latest report 2017 Infrared LED/Infrared Laser and Sensing Component Application Market Report, infrared product applications will continue to develop. It is estimated that the output value of IR LED (excluding sensors) will reach US$710 million (approximately RMB 4.711 billion) by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of 24%, becoming a new blue ocean for LED manufacturers.