According to a new report by Allied Market Research titled, "Global Graphene Market (Bulk material, Film, Product Type, Applications, Geography) - Industry Analysis, Trends, Share, Opportunities and Forecast, 2013- 2020", the global graphene market is expected to reach $149.1 million by 2020, registering a CAGR of 44.0% from 2014 to 2020. North America is and will be the largest Graphene market through 2020.
Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of 42.9% due to high growth of electronics and automotive industries, which are among top consumers of Graphene. In terms of volume, 1.8 kilo tons of Graphene bulk and 26.7 million square cm of Graphene films will be consumed by 2020.
Graphene has been justly conferred the title of 'Wonder Material' owing to its exceptional strength and thinness. Characteristics such as mechanical strength (200 times stronger than steel), electrical and optical properties, ensures that Graphene has wide application in energy, automotive, aerospace, electronics, biomedical, and such others. Latterly, product and technology development is on the rise that is evident by the fact that about 3,018 Graphene patent applications were granted by July 2011 that almost tripled to 8,413 by February 2013. Moreover, the European Union has created a Flagship program for graphene, allocating about $1.3 billion to spend on the development of Graphene over the next 10 years. Such movements are instrumental in allowing commercial parity and faster growth of the Graphene market.
Majority of the companies involved in the Graphene business have employed product launch as their primary business strategy, particularly concerning monolayer & bi-layer graphene, Graphene Oxide (GO) and graphene nano platelet (GNP). Unfortunately, high-priced equipment and incapability of mass production are factors which restrain the growth of the market. Nonetheless, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is rendering better production capabilities to counter mass production issues. Graphene counterparts such carbon nano tubes (CNT) and nanoclays are presenting stiff challenge; however, Graphene stands price competitive with CNTs and tops in performance when compared to nanoclays. As mass production increases, there is potential for 70% to 80% price drop, making Graphene far competitive to its counterparts.
Key products, such as GNP, is one of the potential segments in the overall market owing to its low cost, early adoption and application in graphene based composites. GO and monolayer & bi-layer graphene will emerge as lucrative segments in the long run due to their usage in large applications, chiefly in electronics, energy, aerospace and coatings. Few layer graphene has not yet received substantial attention, due to higher prices with low volume production. Graphene electronics and energy storage remains most popular application markets due to the early adoption by players in aforesaid industries.
Key graphene producers such as CVD Equipment Corporation, Graphene Nanochem PLC, Vorbrck Materials, XG Sciences, Haydale Limited, Graphenea, Graphene Laboratories, Bluestone Global Tech, Angstron Material, Inc. and ACS Material, LLC have adopted product development and agreement as their key developmental strategies to gain competitive edge in the graphene market.
