Today the markets in demand for solar battery mainly concentrate in the USA, Germany, Japan, Korea and Spain; those are in close relationship to the supporting policy. Meanwhile, the supply of high purity crystalline silicon is dominated by few giants such as Hemlock, Wacker and Tokuyama. Among the application fields of solar energy, China grasps the mature technology in solar water heater only; however, China has the same activity and enthusiastic as any other countries in exploring and developing solar PV industry.
There has been a fair amount of discussion about the current state or downturn that our industry is currently in. However, this topic primarily pertains to the equipment sector, not the chip and materials segments. In fact it is expected that the semiconductor materials segment will be $12.6 billion larger than the semiconductor equipment market this year. Moreover, while a lot of attention is given to the equipment industry, the semiconductor materials market has been quietly posting record revenues since 2004 and is forecasted to dominate the equipment market over the next few years.
According to a new market research report available at Electronics.ca Publications, in 2007, thick-SOI substrates accounted for a $72M market, representing approximately 380, 000 6"(equiv.) wafer units. MEMS currently accounts for 38% of this market, and is expected to exceed 45% by 2012. The other outlet for these products is the power semiconductor industry.
As the US economy regains poise in the upcoming years, resurgence in demand for high performance and low cost materials for electrical and electronics product components and devices are likely to augment the use of conductive polymers in the electronics industry. Use of conducting polymeric materials is also expected to increase as the automobile and diesel industries recover from their present troubles. Extensive use of materials, such as, nylon, polyphenylene and polypyrrole, will help fuel the growth of conductive polymers. These polymeric materials are typically applied in fan blades, surge tanks and connectors.
The market for smart fabric and interactive textile technologies, although in embryonic stages, is poised for tremendous growth. Despite slow adoption rates in several markets, demand for SFIT technology is expected to escalate driven by emergence of advanced products and new application areas with significant potential. The market witnessed substantial growth in the past few years owing to the product's interactive properties and unique features. Biophysical monitoring solutions and phase change materials are expected to be major growth sectors in the future.
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