Importance and Size of Ceramics Market

The importance of the ceramics market can be judged not only by its pervasiveness in our lives but also by its size, as it is estimated that the overall global market for ceramics in 2007 was some $160 Bn. As “advanced ceramics” is not a well-defined term, various numbers can be found for its market size, depending on what areas are included. However, broad estimates give a good idea of the huge impact of this technology. Of the $160 Bn in 2007, some quarter or $40 Bn was made up of advanced ceramics. Globally, advanced ceramics has grown from $10 Bn in 1985 to a projected $56 Bn in 2015. Examples of major market sector turnovers are electronics $5.5 Bn in 2007, ceramic capacitors $10 Bn in 2010 and medical $10.4 Bn in 2011, the latter growing to a projected $13.1 Bn in 2017.

Looking in more detail using USA as an example, barium titanate and PZT formed the basis of several early major, multi-billion dollar industries, including high dielectric constant capacitors and pyroelectric security devices. The USA advanced ceramic market has grown from about $7 Bn in 2000 to $10.6 Bn in 2010 and is estimated to reach $14 Bn by 2015. The sector split of the $10.6 Bn market in 2010 was ceramic components 28%, electrical equipment 20%, machinery 13%, transport 13%, armour 13%, coatings 10% and composites 5%. Present major growth areas are environmental (filters and membranes for pollution control), medical (joint replacement and dental) and composites.

So ceramics is not only a vital part of our lives, but it is also an enormous industry from the crudest bricks to the most sophisticated and advanced medical devices.

In particular, three axis MEMS gyroscopes are used as digital compasses in the latest cellular phones such as I-phones, and this last application is expected to boost the sales of MEMS devices to over 6 billion by 2015 representing some $10 Bn.