NanoMarkets Evaluates the Future of Printed Electronics

GLEN ALLEN, VA /PRNewswire/ -- NanoMarkets, a leading industry analyst firm based here, has issued a new white paper that addresses the future of flexography and lithography as production methods for printing electronic circuits. The contents of the paper were drawn from the firm's ongoing research into printable electronics (PE), as well as from a recently released report that analyzed manufacturing technologies for PE. The paper is available for download from the firm's Web site. There is no cost to access the white paper.

About the Paper
In particular, this white paper answers the question as to what role NanoMarkets expects flexography and lithography to play in the future of PE. Screen printing and ink jet are the dominant printing technologies, but neither represent the future of volume PE manufacturing. Screen cannot achieve the fine features required by many potential PE products, nor can its machines support the volumes that are expected to be required. Ink-jet printing is attractive for manufacturing PE because it can create small features, does not waste expensive conductive inks, and can print in small quantities, which is good for the R&D environment and for customized electronics. However, ink jetting isn't capable of producing circuits in large volumes either. As volume requirements ramp up in the PE business, both offset lithography and flexography will account for a growing share of activity once PE moves beyond the R&D phase.

About the Report
NanoMarkets' report "Printed Electronics: A Manufacturing Technology Analysis and Capacity Forecast" provides forecasts, covering the years 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 a full-scale production facility. It also includes an assessment of the printing equipment used in the space and of the strategies of the manufacturers and integrators supplying the technology.

The report is also the first complete analysis of the commercial environment and manufacturing capacity for printable electronics. The report profiles 11 leading firms currently producing PE products, describing the kinds of equipment they are using, their current and future manufacturing plans, and how they are creating the first printable electronics fabs to meet their expectations of the market. The report also provides detailed capacity projections for the emerging printable electronics industry through 2013, broken out by applications—including displays (e.g., OLEDs, e- paper, and electrochromic), backplanes, RFID tags and antennas, sensors, photovoltaics, computer memory, and others—and by printing type, including ink- jet printing and all varieties of traditional printing (e.g., screen, flexo, and gravure).

About NanoMarkets
NanoMarkets is a leading provider of market and technology research and industry analysis services for the thin film, organic, and printable electronics businesses. Since the firm's founding, NanoMarkets has published over two dozen comprehensive research reports on emerging technology markets. Topics covered have included sensors, displays, OLEDs, HB-LEDs, e-paper, RFID, photovoltaics, smart packaging, novel battery technologies, printed electronics, organic electronics, emerging memory and storage technologies, and other promising technologies. NanoMarkets' client roster is a who's who of companies in specialty chemicals, materials, electronics applications, and manufacturing.