Visible Light Communication/Light Fidelity Market Worth $101.30B by 2024

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The global VLC/Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) market is expected to reach $101.30 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing concern over cyber security is anticipated to drive demand over the forecast period.

Growing need of green technology solutions with low power consumption is encouraging the development of advanced communication systems.VLC is a disruptive technology and is therefore expected to grab a substantial portion of the Wi-Fi industry in the near future. However, the adoption is at the nascent stage and is currently being used for niche applications, due to which, an extensive R&D investment would help market players to obtain a competitive advantage.

High illumination, longer life and low power consumption of has led the implementation of LED as a component in LiFi systems. Government promotions for smart LED bulbs in developed countries such as the U.S., and the UK are expected to provide a massive infrastructure base to the VLC system providers.

Increasing applications of indoor location-based services embedded with light fixtures in retail shops and hotels is projected to be one of the factors driving revenue growth. Several companies such as GE Lightings, ByteLight Inc. including Koninklijk Philips N.V. are deploying VLC installations in supermarkets which in turn is aiding retailers to tie customers’ shopping history by tracking their location details. This is helping the retailers to deliver on-site information tailored to a customer needs.

Advancements in the automotive industry are projected to enhance the safety of commuters. This is being executed through the vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to the roadside (V2R) communication by installing LEDs in headlight and tail light of the vehicle. However, high installation and repair cost are projected to obstruct the large-scale implementation of these systems, especially in the emerging economies.

Further key findings from the report suggest:

• In 2014, LED captured a sizeable industry share for over 40% of the overall revenue. Need for safer and reliable communication system using LED lightening has led to an upsurge in demand across commercial buildings, traffic lights, smart stores, game consoles, and consumer electronics.

• LED technology is projected to be an important component in the VLC system. It enables transmitted signals to utilize various bandwidths as the medium for transmission. Low power consumption, long productive life of LED products has led to profitable opportunities for industry growth.

• Automotive & transport application segment is estimated to witness high growth and is expected to reach over USD 19.0 billion by 2024. The technology is capable of delivering real-time traffic updates for proper traffic management and road safety featuring vehicle tracking. LED-based traffic lights are also expected to provide a short-route guideline to the driver and help in saving traffic congestion.

• North America visible light communication (Li-Fi) market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 75.9% from 2016 to 2024. This can be primarily attributed to the increasing data traffic and rising adoption of communication system along with the availability of advanced infrastructure. RF spectrum overuse has led increased the data traffic, hence, providing broad growth avenues for the adoption of VLC communication systems.

• VLC market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness substantial growth owing to rising awareness among smartphones consumers. The region is expected to account for around 30% of the overall revenue share by 2024. The existence of major players is expected to propel demand across this region.

• Notable companies operating in the VLC market include PureLifi, Velmenni, Oledcomm, IBSEN Telecom, and Visilink. The technology is predicted to penetrate across smart cities, wireless sensor networks, augmented reality (AR) applications, ubiquitous networks, power over Ethernet (PoE) and M2M communication.

• Several institutes and consortiums such as the University of Oxford, Visible Light Communication Consortium (VLCC), Keio University, and Smart Lighting Engineering Research Centre are focusing on innovation and product commercialization