Printed Electronics Market Braces for Strong 2009 Growth, Projected to Hit $57.2B by 2019

Printed electronics is finding commercial traction through three main routes. Some manufacturers adopt it as a cost-cutting tool—replacing silicon chips in RFID tags with printed electronics is a common example. Others use it to enhance flexibility or reliability, as seen in flexible e-book readers. In both cases, innovative product design remains critical. Meanwhile, many established electronics equipment makers have begun using printed electronics to lower costs; inkjet-printed conductors, for instance, help reduce circuit board size.

The market for printed electronics—and potential printed electronics comprising organic, inorganic and composite materials—is projected to expand from US$1.92 billion in 2009 to US$57.16 billion in 2019. In 2009, relatively mature products accounted for 71% of the printed electronics market: conductive inks (for membrane key switches, flexible connectors and similar uses), sensors (disposable blood pressure sensors) and organic light-emitting displays (OLEDs).

Over the past year, organic electronics has advanced significantly on several fronts, including:

As inorganic materials deliver better performance, their use in thin-film transistor production has risen, creating a stronger balance between organic and inorganic options.

In East Asia, printed electronics applications continue to broaden, with Japan now the region's second-largest market after South Korea. Many display giants there are exploring the replacement of all display backplane components with printed electronics.

Solar cells such as CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), DSSC (dye-sensitized) and OPV (organic photovoltaics) represented about US$410 million in 2009, though this figure does not capture the entire photovoltaic device market. CdTe (cadmium telluride) and aSi (amorphous silicon) solar cells have not yet been printed to date, but their market potential has already been demonstrated.

The number of entrants is rising rapidly: at least 2,250 organizations are now pursuing printed electronics R&D, split roughly evenly between research institutions and companies.

In 2009, 35% of electronic products will be made via printing. The fastest-growing categories are solar cells, OLEDs (printed on glass) and electronic paper displays, followed by thin-film transistor circuits, flexible OLEDs, sensors and batteries. By 2019, the printed electronics market is expected to reach US$57.2 billion, with 76% of products printed and 73% produced on flexible substrates.

Electronic paper displays are expected to generate about US$80 million in output this year, yet the value of products using them is much greater—such displays have already been deployed in products worth more than US$1 billion to date.

In many sectors, printed electronics commercialization is still in its early stage, and many products are following the successful playbook of thin-film batteries. These products offer flexibility, but their cost is clearly higher than common button batteries. As other thin-film components become more commercialized, this situation should gradually change.

Although many thin-film transistor developers have pushed back their market launch timelines, several new products are still expected this year: PolymerVision will launch flexible displays based on organic transistors, while Kovio will introduce RFID tags using inorganic semiconductors.

So how do organic transistors compare with inorganic materials in terms of development prospects? Which products will emerge? What will demand look like? What challenges lie ahead? And how will the world respond? The answers remain to be seen.

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—Reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362310.html