12.10.09
NanoMarkets Analyzes Printed Electronics
New reports analyzes printed electronics manufacturing trends.
According to a recent report released by industry analyst firm NanoMarkets, as printed electronics (PR) moves out of the lab and into ramp-up phase, manufacturing capacity will need to significantly increase for the technology’s commercial potential to be realized.
NanoMarkets’ new report says thatexpansion is currently underway which, based on the firm’s analysis, will boost the industry’s manufacturing capacity from negligible amounts today to approximately 400 million square meters by the end of 2013 and sufficient to produce almost $40 billion in printed electronics products.
The NanoMarkets report,which istitled “Printed Electronics: A Manufacturing Technology Analysis and Capacity Forecast,” provides the first complete analysis of the commercial environment and manufacturing capacity for printable electronics manufacturing.
The report includes an assessment of the printing equipment used in this space and of the strategies of the manufacturers and integrators supplying the technology. The report profiles 11 leading firms currently producing PE products, describing their current and future manufacturing plans, the kinds of equipment they are using and how they are creating the first printable electronics “fab” to meet their expectations of the market.
The report also includes a forecast from 2007 to 2013 of printing equipment shipments broken out by type of equipment and whether the equipment is used in an R&D or full-scale production facility.
The report also provides detailed capacity projections for the emerging printable electronics industry through 2013 broken out by applications, including display (OLEDs, e-paper, electrochromic), backplanes, RFID (tags and antennas), sensors, photovoltaics, computer memory and other printing types including inkjet and all varieties of traditional printing (screen, flexo, gravure, etc.).
Key findings from the report include:
•PE manufacturing infrastructure is beginning to ramp up as several companies have announced new plants coming online or investments in companies building production capacity. This expansion is critical to the industry’s growth potential.
Among the numerous companies discussed in this report are Add-Vision, CDT, Delta Optoelectronics, Fujifilm Dimatix, GSI, HP, iTi, Kinsel, Konarka,Litrex, Leonhard Kurz, Mark Andy, MAN Roland, Matsushita, MED, Motorola, Nanoident, Nanosolar Osram, OrganicID, Osram, Philips, PolyIC, Polymer Vision, PowerFilm Solar, Power Paper, Rolt, Saharai, Samsung, Seiko Epson, Siemens, SiPix, Solicore, Soligie, Thin Film Electronics, Toppan Printing, Toshiba, Tyco Universal Display, Xennia, Xerox and Xaar.
• NanoMarkets expects printing to make major inroads into applications that now use vacuum deposition and photolithogrpahy. This will be especially noticeable in the OLED display and RFID sectors.
• As demand for PE grows, there will be a switch to high volume traditional printing methods such as flexo, offset and gravure. By 2013, as much as 70 percent of capacity will be accounted for by these traditional processes, compared to approximately 50 percent today.
•Even though the PE industry is moving toward full-scale production, there will be a rapidly growing need for smaller R&D machines in addition to the big presses. By 2013, these machine, predominantly inkjet, will ship at at annual rate of approximately 4,500 per year compared to a few hundred now. Buyers will include research institutes and the growing number of educational establishments that include printable electronics courses in their curriculum.
NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to organic, thin film and printable electronics materials and applications. The firm also publishes a blog at www.nanotopblog.com. Details about the report, “Printed Electronics: A Manufacturing Technology Analysis and Capacity Forecast” are available at www.nanomarkets.com or e-mail: info@nanomarkets.net.