13, July 2023
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, medical, automotive, and consumer electronics industries display a growing need for compact, lightweight, and cost-effective devices. In this regard, flexible electronics have captured the attention of these sectors, offering innovative solutions that enable the development of bendable systems with versatile shapes. Triton’s analysis signifies that the global flexible electronics market is anticipated to progress with a CAGR of 8.88% during the forecast period 2023-2030. The applications for organic photovoltaics (OPV), RFID, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and compacted printed electronic systems are experiencing a significant upsurge, which drives the demand for flexible electronics substrates.
Another notable trend fueling the market expansion is advancements in display technology, driven by the increasing demand for digital visuals. Expanding applications for advanced displays have influenced companies to pioneer advancements in flexible displays.
TCL, for instance, introduced the world’s first rollable extendable smartphone concept utilizing flexible AMOLED display technology. Additionally, haptic touch screens have recently been developed to provide users with tactile feedback via various textures or low electrical currents.
As the demand for compact products and innovative displays continues to rise, there is a promising landscape for the application of various flexible electronic components.
Flexible Displays, typically made of OLED technology, are designed to withstand folding, bending, and twisting. Hence, they are increasingly used in foldable devices like smartphones, providing a compact storage option with a larger screen size for media display. As per Triton’s analysis, the flexible display category captured the highest share at $20263.22 million in 2022 in terms of components.
The initial appeal of folding displays lies in their novelty nature, which garnered significant attention for products like the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Motorola Razr. China’s Royole, for example, made advancements in flexible displays with its FlexPai Phone and even ventured into wearable applications such as flexible displays on t-shirts and hats.
Moreover, flexible consumer electronics are gaining popularity due to their unique characteristics, such as lightweight design, bendability, ruggedness, and lack of brittleness. In this regard, OLED displays, commonly found in smartphones, tablets, and TV screens, offer enhanced picture quality and energy efficiency through higher contrast and vibrant colors. The market holds promise for curved displays, allowing mobile phones to enhance user comfort. In terms of application, the consumer electronics category is likely to advance with 9.01% of CAGR over 2023-2030.
Flexible Sensors, also known as bend sensors, have gained significant attention for their exceptional properties like high stretchability, excellent biocompatibility, great conformability, and low cost. This has prompted various company initiatives, widening their applications in emerging fields like industrial IoT, healthcare, etc. For instance, Japan Display Inc developed the world’s first flexible low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor tactile sensor.
In recent years, wearable biosensors for health monitoring have gained considerable attention as they enable real-time health status monitoring, measuring various parameters like glucose, lactate, pH, cholesterol, pulse rate, temperature, etc. In this regard, using solution-based nanomaterials processed through printing techniques holds promise for cost-efficient manufacturing on flexible polymeric substrates. Per our analysis, the medical and healthcare category is estimated to witness the fastest growth at a CAGR of 9.23% during the 2023-2030 forecast period.
Flexible Photovoltaics is projected to emerge as the fastest-growing component between 2023 and 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.30%. Thin film PV, a cost-effective alternative to traditional crystalline Si-based PV, offers flexibility and new design possibilities for solar cells. Flexible PV devices are highly sought-after for indoor and outdoor applications due to their ability to integrate with structures of different shapes and sizes. Furthermore, flexible PV modules possess faster payback than conventional ones. As a result, various PV materials have been developed using different deposition methods on flexible substrates.
With advancing technology, factories are increasingly embracing automation and connectivity, leading to the rise of Industry 4.0. This paradigm shift involves automating manufacturing processes and upgrading architectures to enhance productivity. Within the industrial platform, electronic design, development, manufacturing, assembly, and distribution hold significant importance.
Furthermore, there is a surge in the adoption of wearables, portable devices, and remotely connected devices across various sectors, such as automotive and smartphones. In this context, flexible electronic devices play a pivotal role, enabling machine-to-machine and human-to-machine connections. Moreover, they offer numerous advantages over non-flexible counterparts, including cost-effectiveness, reduced energy consumption, and lightweight construction.
Integrating physical manufacturing activities with machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data, Industry 4.0, and industrial IoT further drives the application of flexible electronic materials in industrial manufacturing. For instance, robots, sensors, and RFID tags find extensive use in tracking product movement and other operational functions.
Therefore, the proliferation of connected devices contributes heavily to the growing demand for flexible electronics in smart homes, which opens new avenues for the flexible electronics market.
In 2022, the global flexible electronics market attained $37634.72 million and is expected to garner $74779.19 million by 2030.
Q2) What are the key applications of flexible electronics?The key applications of flexible electronics include consumer electronics, medical and healthcare, automotive, and energy sectors.
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