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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Montréal, Québec, Canada, 05/09/2008 - The latest market research report reveals the spending on printed and thin film electronics devices goes beyond conventional silicon, reaching up to $1.58 Billion this year.
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Electronics.ca Publications, the electronics industry market research and knowledge network, announces the availability of a new report entitled "Printed & Organic Electronics Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2008-2028".
The latest market research report reveals the spending on printed and thin film electronics devices goes beyond conventional silicon, reaching up to $1.58 Billion this year. The majority of this is for OLED display panels ($0.69 Billion) which is the value of the panel and not the final device.
Second largest by value is photovoltaics (PV) beyond conventional crystalline and amorphous silicon, accounting for $0.4 Billion. This is not organic PV however, which is still some time away from commercialization, but inorganic technologies such as CIGS and CdTe devices. For example, First Solar has an order book exceeding $2 Billion for CdTe PV devices which they will be delivering over several years.
Third largest is not a specific product, but a value for inks for $0.21 Billion, which are used for multiple different applications such as interconnects for switches, membrane keyboards, windscreen heaters.
On the other hand, the market for logic and memory beyond conventional silicon is to be just $10 Million this year - and virtually all of that is samples and some services with some commercial sales beginning towards the end of the year from Kovio, PolyIC and PolymerVision, for example.
Of all the technologies covered in the $1.58 Billion market, only 27.8% of the components will be predominately printed in 2008, rising to 79.6% in 2018. Similarly, in 2008 only 15.7% of the components are on a non rigid substrate (such as sensors and EL displays), rising to 74% in 2018. The greatest opportunity is for devices which can be printed and are flexible.
The report presents a list of over 600 companies and research organizations involved in printed electronics and what aspects they are involved in. The end point for most applications is for the creation of disposable devices on low cost flexible substrates, the most difficult combination to achieve while retaining yield, lifetime and manufacturing ease.
While most agree that printing of these electronics and electrics is the end game, many are created today by non printing techniques such as spin coating, and many use combinations of manufacturing techniques, such as inkjet printing and laser ablation. All these manufacturing techniques will be employed to some extent.
Therefore it is crucial to recognize that companies will focus on the end product, its cost, performance and suitability for the application, and if these criteria are met the end user will not be concerned about how it was made or using what materials. The report, hence, covers printing and non-printing technologies that form a route to products that will be primarily printed in due course.
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