"When it comes to optical technologies, Germany is one of the leading countries in the world. We must secure and continue to strengthen this position." This statement from German Research Minister Annette Schavan is reinforced by the results of a market study recently released by Germany's Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).

According to the BMBF study, manufacturers of optical technologies in Germany generated 16.3 billion euros in sales in the year 2005. This branch of industry has 101,500 employees in Germany, 86,700 of whom work for optics manufacturers. The rest work in the optical technology supply sector. Over the next decade, the industry expects production volume to increase at an annual rate of 8.5 percent. The number of employees is expected to increase by 41,400 to a total of 142,900 by the year 2015.

As far as the status of "Quality: Made in Germany" is concerned, German companies have no doubt that the optical industry in Germany will continue to acquire shares of world markets.

Another conclusion of the study is that many optical-technology sectors are about to take the step toward integrated industrial manufacturing. The industry is developing in a manner that is similar to the way that semiconductor manufacturing developed 30 years ago. That applies to laser sources themselves, but also to light sources such as light-emitting diodes (LED) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Productronica 2007, which is being held at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from November 13 - 16, will give visitors an outstanding overview of state-of-the-art production technologies in the electronics industry (www.productronica.de).

This technological leap could help German companies to strengthen their market position. That is why the industry needs new ideas, more investments and a secure entry-level workforce. It is also important to promote the exploration of key questions such as developing high-resolution sensors for applications in medical technology.

The market study is based on international statistics and discussions with several companies. The complete results can be downloaded at internet.