Ten-year market forecasts segmented by applications and materials, critical application and technology appraisals, company profiles
The new report by IDTechEx, Conductive Ink Markets 2017-2027: Forecasts, Technologies, Players provides the most comprehensive and authoritative view of the conductive inks and paste market, giving detailed ten-year market forecasts segmented by application and material type. The market forecasts are given in tonnage and value at the ink level.
It is based upon years of research. In the past five years alone, our analysts have interviewed more than 100 industry players, visited numerous users/ suppliers across the world, attended more than 20 relevant conferences/exhibitions globally, and worked with many industry players to help them with their strategy towards this market. Prior to this, our analysts played an active role in commercializing conductive pastes, particularly in the photovoltaic industry.
The complete global picture
This report includes critical reviews of all the competing conductive inks and paste technologies including firing-types pastes, PTFs, laser-cut or photo-patterned pastes, nanoparticles, stretchable inks, in mold inks, copper, copper/silver alloys, nanocarbon, and more. Here, we outline the latest performance levels/progress, technology challenges, key suppliers, existing and emerging target market, and forecasts where appropriate. This report also provides a detailed assessment of more than 25 application sectors. Here, we analyse the market needs/requirements, discuss the business dynamics, market leadership and technology change trends, competing solutions, latest product/prototype launches, key players and market forecasts in tonnes and value.
We cover the following existing and emerging sectors: Photovoltaics; Touch screen edge electrodes; Automotive electronics; In mold electronics; e-Textiles and wearable electronics; 3D printed electronics; ITO replacement; PCB; RFID; Printed piezoresistive, capacitive and bio sensors; OLED and large-area LED lighting and many more.
The report also covers more than 130 companies. For most, we provide insights based on primary intelligence obtained through interviews, visits, conference exhibition interactions, personal communications, and so on. For more than 50 we provide full interview-based company profiles including a detailed SWOT analyst and IDTechEx Index.
Changing business landscape
The conductive ink/paste industry is in the midst of undergoing major change. For example, the volume photovoltaic market will do well in the first half of 2017 thanks to the looming end of feed-in-tariff in China. This will spell good news even for those companies who had seen their market share decline well below 20%. However the industry remains concerned that it may reach peak silver consumption within the next three years in this highly cost competitive market that sees only incremental innovation.
Similarly, the touch screen edge electrode market continues to be shaped by the perennial trend to narrow the bezel. This trend has already led to the introduction of new photo-patterned and laser-cut pastes to achieve L/S of 20/20. Such ink innovations have so far enabled printing to remain competitive, but the industry remained concerned here too that sputtering will become an even more of a threat in the coming years when the L/S shrinks further.
New growth opportunities emerge
In fact, such competitive pressures in core markets have seen suppliers adopt a strategy of developing as broad a product portfolio as possible to seed and develop numerous nascent emerging sectors. Indeed, multiple new materials and formulations are being developed to satisfy new market requirements in nascent, niche sectors. These sectors are often characterised by uncertainty, poorly-defined figures-of-merit, and not yet fully fledged value networks.
The target markets are numerous and include e-textile and wearable electronics, EMI shielding, in-mold electronics for automotive and home appliance applications, ITO replacement, digitizers, printed sensors, and so on.
Nobody wants to be left behind
These markets however represent the future growth opportunities. Indeed, as shown below, IDTechEx Research forecasts that these emerging sectors will grow to nearly become a $400m market opportunity by 2027. The ship is sailing now and nobody wants to be left behind. This is why companies are now allocating resources, iterating formulations, and development commercial ecosystems. This is why the conductive ink business has come alive again.
Fig. Market growth opportunity for conductive inks and pastes in emerging sectors. Here, volume applications like touch screen edge electrodes, automotive (exterior), photovoltaics are excluded. For exact values please see the IDTechEx report "Conductive Ink Markets 2017-2027: Forecasts, Technologies, Players".
To learn more about this industry see the IDTechEx report at www.IDTechEx.com/ink.
