Conductive Silver Inks Market to Reach $2.4 Billion by 2015

GLEN ALLEN, VA /PRNewswire/ -- The market for silver conductive inks will almost triple over the next eight years to reach $2.4 billion by 2015 says a new report from NanoMarkets, an industry analyst firm. The report is a follow-up to a widely regarded and "first of its kind" analysis of the conductive silver inks business released by NanoMarkets in 2007.

Key findings from the report

  • While demand for silver inks from traditional applications, such as membrane switches and PCBs, will remain stable, a new group of applications is emerging that will bring new business revenues to silver ink makers. The biggest opportunity will be found in the RFID space, where revenues from silver inks for RFID antennas alone will exceed $880 million by 2015. Based on the current excitement surrounding alternative energy, NanoMarkets expects the use of silver inks for solar panel contacts to grow to almost $250 million by 2015.

     

  • As applications for printable electronics begin to reach full-scale production, flexo and gravure printing will become increasingly popular and require special inks tailored to the needs of these kinds of printing machine. The market for silver flexo and gravure inks is no more than a niche now. By 2015 it will have reached more than $530 million.

     

  • Nanosilver inks will reach almost 21% of total ink sales by 2015, driven by their high conductivity and ability to be cured at low temperatures. The latter will be especially important given the growing role of thermally sensitive flexible substrates.

About the Report
NanoMarkets' report "Silver Inks and Pastes for Printable Electronics: 2008-2015" quantifies the opportunities for silver inks in both traditional applications and in RFID, photovoltaics, displays, sensors, and lighting. The report covers the future of both conventional inks and pastes and the new nanosilver inks. Printing types covered include screen, inkjet, flexo, and gravure. Detailed volume and value forecasts are provided for each application, including a breakout by ink, printing technology, and type. It includes profiles of influential suppliers of silver inks, including Cabot, Cima Nanotech, Creative Materials, DuPont, Five Star, Harima Chemical, InkTec, Mitsubishi, NanoDynamics, NanoGram, Henkel Electronics/National Starch, NanoMas, NovaCentrix, Parelec, and Sun Chemical.

About NanoMarkets
NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in electronics created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to organic, thin-film, and printable electronics materials and applications and maintains a blog that comments on industry trends and events. NanoMarkets research database is the industry's most extensive source of information on thin-film, organic, and printable electronics.