Printable Electronics Industry to Reach $12.1 Billion in 2011

GLEN ALLEN, VA /PRNewswire/ -- According to a newly released report from NanoMarkets, a leading industry analyst firm based here, the market for printable electronics (PE) will grow from $354 million in revenues in 2007 to $12.1 billion in 2011. Additional details about the report are available on the firm's Web site.

Highlights
NanoMarkets' new report points to several positive developments that bode well for the overall PE business. Fuji Film's acquisition of Dimatix and Weyerhaeuser's announced purchase of OrganicID clearly demonstrate that larger companies with substantial resources are entering the business. Other major companies, such as Intel and Siemens, have also invested in PE or developed partnerships with PE technology developers to generate revenue streams as the PE business is seen by more and more larger firms as their next $100 million plus annual business opportunity.

Key product segments in the PE business include printable displays, which are expected to generate $3.8 billion revenues in 2011; printable RFID, which is expected to surpass $2.5 billion; signage, which will create $1.25 billion; printable backplanes, which will grow to $1.1 billion; and printable photovoltaics, which will do better than $1 billion in sales in the same time period. With almost a dozen viable application areas within the printable electronics universe, there will be substantial revenues available to a variety of companies throughout the value chain, says NanoMarkets' new report. By 2013, the PE market could reach over $30 billion in total annual revenues.

Materials used in printable electronics will grow from a market of $76 million in 2007 to over $2.78 billion in 2011. The report notes, in particular, that there is a growing interest in developing inks using small molecule OLED materials. If this proves practical, it will open up the entire OLED display market—already worth hundreds of millions of dollars—to printing technology.

Meanwhile over the past year, the equipment used for printing electronics has been able to produce higher resolutions, facilitating the production of low-cost RFID circuitry, mobile displays, and multifunctional sensors. In addition, the printable electronics community no longer sees registration as an insurmountable obstacle to building complex circuitry using printing.

About the Report:
In its new report, "Printable Electronics: From R&D to Revenues," NanoMarkets continues its ongoing coverage of the printed electronics market that the firm initiated in early 2005. Last year, NanoMarkets released two highly regarded reports that analyzed and forecasted printed electronics applications and materials market opportunities. In the new report, the firm will provide additional technical and market-based analysis of key applications and market opportunities, but with an eye on materials, production technologies, and applications, including displays, RFID, sensors, memory, photovoltaics, batteries, OLEDs, signage, and smart packaging. The report will present detailed unit and revenue forecasts of PE applications and will also examine various companies' strategies, as well as the key market drivers and trends affecting the industry. Companies covered in the report include 3M, Acreo, Add-Vision, Aveso, BASF, Cabot, Cambridge Display Technology, Canon, Cypak, Dai Nippon Printing, Dow Corning, E-Ink, Fuji Xerox, Graphic Solutions, H.C. Starck, HP, Infineon, Information Mediary Corp., Innovalight, Kent Display, Kodak, Konarka, Matsushita, Mead Westvaco, Merck OLED Materials, Novaled, Ntera, Osram Opto Semiconductors, Phiar, Philips Electronics, Philips GmbH Forschungslaboratorien, Philips Lighting, Pioneer, PolyIC, Quantum Paper, Ricoh, Seiko Epson, Seiko Epson, Sensient Image Technologies, Siemens, Sipix, T-Ink, Toppan Printing, Universal Display Corp., VTT, and Xerox.

About NanoMarkets:
NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to nanoelectronics, organic, thin-film, and printable-electronics materials, applications, and production modalities. For a full listing of the firm's research reports, white papers, and posted articles, please visit its Web site.