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36 MTR May 2011 in those markets where the specific advantages of high torque, high preci- sion and lack of magnetic interference are particularly useful.

When the costs can be lowered to competitive levels, and remaining technical problems such as frictional wear can be solved, piezoelectric motors may also become candidates in areas such as automotive acces- sories, where very high volume mar- kets are possible.

The global market for traditional piezoelectric devices is quite mature in applications. However, the global market for new piezoelectric devices will see a robust two-digit growth rate in next five years.

The global market for piezoelectric devices using ceramics, PVDF and ceramic/polymer composites had topped $10 billion in 2007 as shown in Table 2. Among the devices, piezo- electric actuators and motors have the highest growth rates because of their applications in information technolo- gy, robotics, biomedical engineering, automotive, ecology and energy engi- neering. • Among the nine markets, infor- mation technology/robots (31.7%), is the clear leader, followed by semicon- ductor manufacturing and precision machines (18.6%), sonar (12.5%), and bio/medical (11.1%). Other sec- tors that complete the total market are ecology and energy harvesting (7%), accelerators and sensors (5.8%), non-destructive testing (5.7%) and miscellaneous (gas ignit- ers, piezo printing heads, telecommu- nication devices) (4.5%), acoustic devices and resonators (3.1%) • New devices such as piezoelectric generators will see the highest growth rate, estimated to be 51.5% annually.

This category is followed by ceramic resonators (27.5%); miscellaneous applications (high voltage devices-gas igniters, piezoelectric elements in laser mirror alignments, acousto- optic modulators, piezoelectric driv- ers and piezoelectric amplifiers (19.8%); accelerators and sensors (14%); ultrasonic motors (13.4%); and transformers (13.6%). Ultrasonic motors will see 14.6% growth over five years. • Traditional devices also will see growth, including acoustic devices (13.6%), actuators for computer disk drives (11.6%); Langevin actuators for welding and cleaning (14.6%); sonars (6.75%), transducers (14%); and gas igniters, piezo printing heads, diesel injectors, and piezo amplifiers (19.8%). • In 2007, Japan had the highest market share of 26%, followed by

Europe with 24%, china with 18%,

North America with 14%, Korea with 8% and the rest of the world with 10%. By 2012, china will occu- py second position ahead of Europe, with a 22% share of the global mar- ket.

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