Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) Market - Analysis of Growth, Trends and Forecast (2019 - 2024)

Market Overview

The Li-fi Market is expected to register a CAGR of over 70.54 % during the forecast period 2019 – 2024. Li-Fi is a disruptive technology that is poised to impact many industries. The technology can unlock the potential of IoT, drive Industry 4.0 applications and lead to the upcoming of light-as-a-service (LaaS) in the lighting industry. The CAGR of wireless traffic has been 60% during the last 10 years. This growth is expected to sustain for the next 10 to 15 years, which, in the current scenario is a reasonable assumption due to the advent of Internet-of-Things and machine type communication (MTC). It corresponds to a demand of 12,000 times the current bandwidth, assuming the same spectrum efficiency.

The governments are making efforts in the ICT sector, owing to the increasing need for energy management. Owing to government initiatives in the ICT sector, such as implementing smart city transformations, players are enforced to invest and innovate in Li-Fi. For instance, ICT is at the heart of the seven-year Dubai Plan 2021, which builds on investment in advanced technology by the emirate’s leadership, in combination with some private sector technology companies. 

Moreover, the European Commission recognizes the enabling role that the ICT sector can play over the forecast period. For instance, rendering buildings more energy efficient or improving the functioning of the electricity grid and managing water. The concept of smart city encompasses optimizing the efficiency of city operations and services and connect citizens.

The limitations of the visible light provide Li-Fi with a security advantage over Wi-Fi. However, these limitations also create disadvantages. Physical barriers, such as walls and doors limit the operational scope of a Li-Fi-enabled LED lamp. Thus, the data transmitted by a Li-Fi product remains confined within a close spaced because light cannot penetrate opaque objects and has a shorter range. In establishments, such as a house or a building, enabled LED lamps must be strategically placed in rooms, halls, and other sections to expand the scope of the Li-Fi network. A single Wi-Fi router has wider and longer range than a Li-Fi router. These limitations of Li-Fi also do not make it ideal for use in public Wi-Fi networks.

Moreover, it cannot be used in outdoor environment like RF signal. This is because of interference caused by sunlight and other optical sources present nearby. Moreover it can be intercepted by unwanted people if used outdoors. Furthermore, Li-Fi is still in the emerging stage and very few have reached the commercialization stage.

Scope of the Report

Li-Fi is a wireless communication technology that uses the infrared and visible light spectrum for high-speed data communication. Li-Fi extends the concept of visible light communication (VLC) to achieve secure, bi-directional, high speed, and fully networked wireless communications. Li-Fi supports user mobility and multiuser access.

Key Market Trends

Indoor is Expected to register a Significant Growth

Smart buildings have begun to adapt to accommodate their residents, in order to improve resident comfort and user experience, by knowing the locations of each occupant and then provide location-based services, such as intelligent car parking, health monitoring, logistics, and shopping assistance. In addition to indoor shopping assistance, location-based service also plays a crucial role in the reduction of building energy cost. The basic idea of Li-Fi technology is to utilize the visible light from an LED light bulb to transmit high-speed data to a photodetector, which is connected to a smartphone or tablet.

Wi-Fi’s frequency spectrum is around 2.4GHz or 5GHz, while Li-Fi’s frequency spectrum is located in the visible light band. Considering the widespread use of LED bulbs inside buildings and large bandwidth of visible light, Li-Fi technology is much cheaper and more environment-friendly than Wi-Fi. Li-Fi technique has great potential in many popular applications, such as location-based services, mobile connectivity, smart lighting, and hazardous environments.The increasing growth in the use of LED lamps in buildings for lighting provides enormous opportunities for Li-Fi based applications. As Li-Fi combines the functions of high-speed wireless data communication and indoor lighting infrastructure, it is very cost-effective to be widely utilized in smart buildings.

The United States is Expected to Hold Major Share

The rapid advance of information technologies, such as wireless sensor network, internet of things, big data, and smartphones, have resulted in the development of smart buildings in the North American region. At the end of 2016, around 15 million households in the United States met the definition of smart home, which is expected to increase to more than 20 million households, thereby, offering several opportunities for Li-Fi in the country.

According to the US Green Building Council, building contributes a significant portion of energy consumption in the United States. It is reported that buildings account for 70% of electricity load and 39% of carbon oxide emissions. Given an occupant’s accurate indoor position, a building management system (BMS) is capable of offering highly-efficient heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting service to the occupant.

Increasing applications of indoor location-based services embedded with light fixtures in retail shops and hotels in the North American region are also projected to be one of the factors driving the revenue growth in the region. Several companies, such as GE Lightings and ByteLight Inc. are deploying VLC installations in supermarkets, which, in turn, is aiding retailers to tie customers’ shopping history by tracking their location details.

Competitive Landscape

The Li-fi Market is highly competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability. The companies operating in the market are also acquiring start-ups working on Li-fi technologies to strengthen their product capabilities. In April 2018, pureLifi entered into partnership with Cisco in 5G RuralFirst project. This project is expected to support and inform the development of the UK’s 5G ecosystem, so that it is able to address the needs of communities and businesses in rural locations in ways that 4G, 3G, and 2G have not been able to do. pureLiFi is one among the project innovators working on 5G radio access technology and dynamic spectrum access.

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.3.1 Government Initiatives Pushing For Energy Efficiency

4.3.2 Rising Demand For High-speed Network

4.4 Market Restraints

4.4.1 Limited Range And Connectivity And Lack Of Awareness About The Technology

4.5 Value Chain / Supply Chain Analysis

4.6 Porters Five Force Analysis

4.6.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.6.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.6.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.6.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.6.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 

5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Application

5.1.1 Indoor

5.1.2 Outdoor

5.2 Geography

5.2.1 North America

5.2.2 Europe

5.2.3 Asia Pacific

5.2.4 Latin America

5.2.5 Middle East and Africa

6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 Panasonic Corporation

6.1.2 Koninklijke Philips NV

6.1.3 Renesas Electronics Corporation

6.1.4 Siemens AG

6.1.5 Velmenni

6.1.6 Zero1 Pte Ltd

6.1.7 PureLiFi

6.1.8 Oledcomm

6.1.9 LightBee Corp.

6.1.10 IDRO Co. Ltd

7 INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

MARKET SEGMENTATION

By Application

Indoor

Outdoor

Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa