Abstract
In July 2007, Motorola signed an agreement with micro-projector manufacturer Microvision to integrate Microvision's PicoP micro-projector module into Motorola mobile phones. At the IMID conference held in August 2007, Korean LG forecast that mobile projection had very high growth potential. Mobile projection technology is beginning to attract a great deal of attention worldwide.
However, volume production of micro-projector devices is still some way off. Several problems need to be overcome, including the large size of the devices, high power consumption, and issues with the light-emitting components. Many companies are working on micro-projector technology, hoping to integrate such devices into a mobile phone. This report will analyze the current state of the micro-projector industry, the technical obstacles, and possible solutions.
Mobile phone vendors and component suppliers have been moving aggressively into the mobile projection market, attracted by the potential for strong market growth. However, there are still many technical obstacles to be overcome, including problems relating to the laser light sources, device size, price, and power consumption.
In the past, there was little demand for green lasers, and the range of materials that could be used to directly produce green lasers was very limited. The pioneers in this field, which included US companies Novalux and Corning, created green lasers by adjusting the wavelength of red lasers. Both of these companies have unveiled prototype green laser devices; in the future, new advances in green laser light source technology should make it possible to reduce both the size and price of these devices. The problem of high energy consumption can be overcome either by adopting LED or through improvements in laser light sources.
While it seems certain that the technical obstacles will eventually be overcome, it will be some time before large-volume production of micro-projector devices begins; the market will not start to take off before 2010 at the earliest. Even if a manufacturer made an all-out effort, it would still be at least 18 months before volume production could begin. While some commercial products may appear on the market in time for Christmas 2008, the range of products will be very limited, and the prices will be extremely high.
The micro-projectors described in this report can only be used in a dark environment. As a result, they face a serious competitive threat from a rival product that, like them, can be built into a mobile phone, but which has the advantage of also being usable in a well-lit environment: the flexible display. Given the problems that micro-projectors have yet to overcome and the intense competition that they will face, it remains to be seen how the mobile projection market will develop in the future.
Appendix
List of Companies
|
Canon |
|
|
|
Compal Communications |
|
|
|
Corning |
|
|
|
HiMax |
|
|
|
LG |
|
|
|
Matsushita |
|
|
|
Microvision |
|
|
|
Motorola |
|
|
|
NEC |
|
|
|
Nippon Signal |
|
|
|
Nokia |
|
|
|
Novalux |
|
|
|
Pacific Media Associates |
|
|
|
SAIT |
|
|
|
Samsung |
|
|
|
Symbol Technologies |
|
|
|
Techno Solution |
|
|
|
TI |
|
|
|
Toshiba |
|
|
|
Upstream Engineering |