The transparent conductive film industry will nearly be a $430 million industry in 2015, according to the IDTechEx Research report Transparent Conductive Films (TCF) 2015-2025: Forecasts, Markets, Technologies. This is counting the value of the entire un-patterned film, and excluding markets based on glass (most thin film PV and LCD displays).

Quantum dots have been developed since the early 80's but it is only recently that they made an appearance in consumer products such as TVs and tablet computers. IDTechEx Research has published a new market report on quantum dots titled Quantum Dots 2016-2026: Applications, Markets, Manufacturers, and as part of this study we have looked at their impact on the display industry. Is this the technology that will enable LCD to rival OLED?

The graphene industry is at a critical juncture for many small to medium sized companies: it is time for them to generate revenues and pre-empt any pending cash flow issues. These companies cannot often afford to take the long view, which many research groups and government are rightly taking.

Europeans won the Nobel Prize for their work on graphene but they are not necessarily winning on the commercial front. In fact, it is the Chinese who might overtake them.

Advanced microelectronics are moving on from the Moore's Law era to be More-than-Moore. Denser chips have higher internal and external clock rates, and higher power dissipation.

Jetting binder on layers of plastic powder was originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1993. This binder-on-powder process was the first to be known as 3D Printing technology.

RFID is thriving, reaching total sales of $10.1bn in 2015 with a large scope ahead for continued roll-out in many established markets and growth in new markets. However, companies must consider their positioning as many new players enter the market while the value chain consolidates, finds IDTechEx Research in the new detailed report, RFID Forecasts, Players, Opportunities 2016-2026 which covers the entire industry.

Graphene finds users in California (Our most exciting graphene conference so far).

Thought leaders IDTechEx were among the first to identify three new megatrends in the world of technology: Structural Electronics (SE); 3D Printed Electronics (3DPE); Energy Independent Electric Vehicles (EIVs).