The good and bad news about printed electronics in Europe

In continuously updating our new trilogy of reports on respectively printed electronics in Europe, East Asia and the USA, certain lessons jump out of the page.

 

Europe has far more organisations active in the subject of printed and potentially printed electronics than any other continent. So far we have profiled 267 organisations in Europe with plenty more in the queue. That compares with North America 207 studied and East Asia about 171 studied. Our view that the total number for Europe being 50 more than North America at about 550 is now looking conservative. More people attend conferences on organic/ plastic/ printed electronics in Europe than in the USA in total.

 

 

In printed and thin film photovoltaics beyond silicon, Europe has powerful structure from R&D to production and subsidized installation, with some examples of CIGS and DSSC versions being fully printed reel to reel already.

European giant corporations in materials for the new electronics are as formidable as any elsewhere. Examples:

 

 

In Europe, the big numbers are in R&D. Only 54% of participants are likely to make anything and most of those are on the fringe of the subject. In North America, 62% are non academic, many are well funded startups with ambition to become billion dollar corporations.

 

That massive research base protects relatively few of its inventions with patents compared to the rest of the world.

 

Despite Solvay and Henkel entering the business, most giant European corporations are showing little or no interest in making the devices. Shell/ Saint Gobain and BASF/ Bosch are exceptions. They address the new photovoltaics. Philips and Siemens seem keen to succeed in OLED lighting. They both have a traditional lighting business.

 

 

While we have profiled a remarkable 66 organisations in Europe developing printed and potentially printed transistors, none have sold anything. While it is true that no one else in the world has sold any of these transistors either, we have reason to believe that both East Asia and North America will be doing a great deal of commercialization soon. It is also interesting that leading edge designs using composites and vertical FETs are more likely to be found outside Europe. An exception is the transparent, inorganic compound transistors with superlative electrical properties being developed by a group of institutions in Portugal, by 3T Technology/ Cambridge University in the UK and researchers in Germany, notably Merck/TU Darmstadt. Some are already printable. They deserve more publicity and more funding.

 

 

 

For more attend Printed Electronics USA.

 

Also read Organic and Printed Electronics in North America, Organic & Printed Electronics in East Asia and Organic & Printed Electronics in Europe.