Sensors, Haptics & Displays

In this article we focus on the current status of the main printed electronics technologies for components in consumer goods and healthcare applications, providing for each one market drivers, case studies and key suppliers, cost structures and challenges.

In recent years that interest has increased regarding new applications of power generation through thermoelectric harvesting. IDTechEx research forecasts that the market for thermoelectric energy harvesters will continue to grow and reach over $950 million by 2024.

IDTechEx forecasts that the market for plastic and flexible OLED displays will rise to $16bn by 2020.

Mobile phones and associated wearable electronics are now part of what is called the Internet of People. The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a term that describes the massively connected world ahead of us.

The heart of the e-textile business as it emerges is electric and electronic functionality from sensing to light emission, achieved entirely by use of e-fibers.

IDTechEx's report Organic Photovoltaics 2013-2023: Technologies, Markets, Players analyses the latest developments in this field. This report gives an overview of the greater photovoltaic business landscape, assesses the organic photovoltaic technology at material and component level, and delivers detailed market forecasts.

Some use the term Internet of Things (IoT) to rename a large number of existing topics including the burgeoning world of cellphones, tablets and wearable connected devices, better referred to as the Internet of People (IoP).

Wearable electronics is a very fragmented industry when it comes to manufacturers. Even mature sub-sectors have no clear leaders in what will be a $70 billion plus business in 2024 with 12,000 developers and manufacturers as newly calculated by analysts IDTechEx.

The conductive ink and paste business is a large market that will generate $1.6 billion in 2014 in revenue at the ink/paste level.

So far, there is very little true e-textile in production - that is, textiles with electronic and/or electric functionality based on weavable e-fibers. That is now changing.