Antireflective Coatings Market Expected to Reach $8.9 Billion by 2030—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Antireflective Coatings Market," The antireflective coatings market was valued at $4.3 billion in 2020, and is estimated to reach $8.9 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.61% from 2021 to 2030.

Anti-reflection coatings are dielectric coatings designed to reduce reflections and increase transmission through lens or other optical surfaces. These coatings can control both transmission and reflection properties associated with UV, visible, and near-infrared spectral bands. Anti-reflective coatings are used in many industries such as eyewear, electronics, solar panels, and automobiles. Anti-reflection lenses are an affordable alternative to reducing glare reflected from computer screens, televisions, flat panel displays, and other electronic displays.

Anti-reflective coatings are used to reduce glare and provide low reflectance. This makes the display easier to read, reduces eye strain, and improves visual insight. The demand for progressive lenses has grown rapidly as more and more people suffer from presbyopia. Presbyopia is a condition in which the crystalline lens of the eye becomes harder with age, making it difficult to read at close range. In March 2021, KITS announced that it would begin offering ultra-thin digital progressive lenses on all websites. The launch of such products has increased the consumption of anti-reflective coatings.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, myopia occurs in about 23.9% (about 34 million people) of the U.S. over the age of 40. According to World Health Organization (WHO), as of October 2021, approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from short-range or long-range visual impairment. Such numbers could increase the demand for associated eye lenses while addressing these obstacles, further increasing the demand for anti-reflective coatings.

With the increased installation of solar panels, the demand for anti-reflective coatings has grown. However, high manufacturing costs and lack of knowledge about proper maintenance & use of anti-reflective coatings hamper the market growth. Conversely, rise in opportunities for anti-reflective coatings on smartphones, televisions, laptops, electronic devices, and solar panel screens in emerging markets have created favorable opportunities for the global anti-reflective coating market.

In the preparation of antireflective coatings, raw materials such as magnesium fluoride (MgF2) and fluoropolymers possess beneficial physical properties. Magnesium fluoride is most commonly used in antireflective coatings as it is cost-effective and provides moderate antireflection at a specific wavelength. Although the individual material cost of magnesium fluoride is less, the application of magnesium fluoride in the form of a coating is a difficult task.

Vacuum deposition technology is used for the application of the antireflective coating on eye lenses. This is a complete technical process involving various steps such as stringent cleaning and inspection of the lenses. If these steps are not followed appropriately, the resultant coating will be a defective end product. These technical regulations result in increased costs of production. Thus, antiglare coating on an eye lens will cost around $40–100 in addition to the existing production cost, which is expected to limit the demand for antireflective coatings.

The antireflective coatings market is segmented on the basis of technology, application, layer type and region.

On the basis of technology, the market is categorized into vacuum deposition, electronic beam evaporation, sputtering, and others (ion assisted deposition). By application, antireflective coatings market is fragmented into eyewear, electronics, solar panels, automobile, and others (telecommunications, telescope, and binocular lenses). On the basis of layer type, the market is categorized into single layered and multi layered. By region, the antireflective coatings market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The North America region accounted for largest market share of the total revenue in 2020. The high adoption of Antireflective coatings products in the region is expected to continue to bolster the antireflective coatings market size, due to surge in the consumption of consumer goods in this region.

The key players operating in the global antireflective coatings market are Essilor International, Carl Zeiss AG, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Honeywell International, PPG Industries, Hoya Corporation, Viavi Solutions, Inc., Optical Coatings Japan, and Rodenstock GmbH.

Other players in the antireflective coatings industry value chain (not profiled in the report) include Eksma Optics, Evaporated Coatings, Inc., Torr Scientific Limited, Optics Balzers, Enki Technology, Zygo Corporation, Spectrum Direct Ltd., Quantum Coating, Lumentum Operations LLC, Majestic Optical Coatings, and Optimum RX Lens Specialists., etc. that compete for the share of the market through product launch, joint venture, partnership, and expansion of the production capabilities to meet the future demand for the antireflective coatings market during the forecast period.

Key findings of the study

• By region, North America accounted for the largest market share in 2020.
• By technology, vacuum deposition segment held the largest market share in 2020.
• By application, eyewear segment held the largest market share in 2020.
• By layer type, single layered segment held the largest market share in 2020.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE GLOBAL ANTIREFLECTIVE COATINGS MARKET

• Emergence of COVID-19 had less impact on growth of the global antireflective coatings market during the pandemic outbreak period.
• This impact is mostly attributed to significant disruptions in the raw material transportation, unavailability of labor, and shutdown of many manufacturing industries.
• The decline in demand for many non-essential products and shut down of manufacturing industries created a negative impact on the development of global antireflective coatings market.