August 24, 2011 — Pico projectors, small projector modules that can be integrated into cell phones, mobile gaming devices, and other electronics, are just gaining market adoption. However, expect pico projectors to exceed 97.5 million units, with revenues hitting $10 billion, by 2017, says Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA).
Pico projectors were a 10-model, several-thousand-unit market in 2008. Advances in miniaturization and quality, along with dropping prices, will spur a host of new models in the next 5 years, most designed for embedding in mobile electronics.
The projectors easily fit in with smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices, offering video play, photo and document sharing, video game play, and other functionalities on any surface. Mobile handsets are expected to stimulate the highest growth in pico projectors market. Apple is rumored to be making a line of pico projectors. Cellular service providers could subsidize pico-projector-enhanced phones, benefiting from increased content fees by users.
Beyond mobile consumer devices, pico projectors are finding a market in schools and other educational institutes, thanks to better costs and storage requirements than traditional projectors.
Pico projectors historically used liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) microdisplays with color filters (2008-2009). LCOS with color sequential, digital light processing (DLP), and laser beam steering (LBS) or scanning micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) are coming into use today. In the future, DLP will fuel the majority of pico projectors, followed by LCOS. MEMS scanning technology will see the fastest adoption rate.
Lasers and LEDs are the two predominantly used light sources, with lasers eventually overtaking LEDs, after the commercial introduction of direct green laser. Lasers best suit pico projectors owing to saturated colors projected across the broadest color spectrum, as well as power efficiency, higher resolution, and focus-free operation.
Pico projectors are largely produced in the US, where many of the market pioneers operate. As new players rapidly infiltrate the market, producers could specialize into "accessory" and "standalone" pico projector categories. Major players in the accessory segment include 3M Company, AAXA Technologies Inc., Acer Incorporated, Aiptek Inc., Optoma Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation and WowWee Group Limited. Leading module/chipset manufacturers include bTendo Ltd., Lemoptix SA, Light Blue Optics, Luminus Devices Inc., Maradin Ltd., Mezmeriz Inc., Micron Technology Inc., MicroVision Inc., Opus Microsystems Corp., Syndiant Inc., and Texas Instruments Inc.
Global Industry Analysts Inc. published "Pico Projectors: A Global Strategic Business Report" covering these market trends, issues, drivers, company profiles, mergers, acquisitions, product launches and other strategic industry activities. The report provides market estimates and projections in volume (in thousand units) as well as value terms (US$ Million) for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World markets.
For more details about this comprehensive market research report, visit http://www.strategyr.com/Pico_Projectors_Market_Report.asp