The visible light communication market may exceed US$100 billion in value by 2024

Visible light communication is a form of data-transfer using radiation in the visible to infra-red range. It is viewed as a viable alternative to fiber-optics and other similar forms of connectivity-conferring hardware, particularly in situations for which this equipment is not suitable. Visible light communication is also regarded as capable of good speeds, and is also bidirectional. 

This form of communication has various sub-categories, the most prominent of which may be light-fidelity (Li-Fi). This variation on the technology may allow data to reach devices through typical household or commercial light fittings - particularly as it is possible to do so using simple, economical LEDs. However, this technology can also work using alternative components such as photodetectors or microcontrollers.

Accordingly, the latest market research suggests potential for Li-Fi in areas such as internet-of-things (IoT) and 5G. Furthermore, it is also currently applied to purposes and industries such as smart cities, connected cars, underwater communications, healthcare, security, aviation, aerospace, logistics, mobile devices and retail.

Therefore, the visible light communication market is now projected to attain a value of up to $101.3 billion in 5 years. By contrast, it was worth $454.8 million in 2015. At present, Europe is its largest sector by location, although Asia-Pacific is thought to be capable of the strongest growth until 2024. This is thought to be driven by the rate of PC and mobile device uptake within this sector, which will be of course be in need of ever-growing volumes of data over time.