Research Firm Sees $5.5 Billion Opportunity in Printed, Flexible Electronics

Printed and flexible electronics may well be a $5.5 billion market opportunity by 2026, spearheaded in part by the projected growth of OLED technologies in the connected car and other commercial applications, IDTechEx said in a Monday report. In OLED, the industry is moving from glass to plastic substrates “following the trend towards flexible displays, with the two largest manufacturers, Samsung Display and LG Display, leading the charge and investing in new production lines,” the research firm said. “Aside from performance advantages that OLEDs bring to the table in terms of color gamut, contrast and power consumption, the benefits of flexible display integration in vehicles include lighter weight and robustness and in many cases, versatility in design and form factor.” In addition to flexible OLED panels, “transparent displays may also be adopted by the auto industry to transform the windows of vehicles into screens that display heads-up information for drivers,” it said. Inside the car, “the windscreen can display a host of useful contextual information such as vehicle speed, navigation instructions and location-based facts,” it said. “Outside of the car, the rear windshield can be utilized to communicate safety warnings and other notifications to fellow motorists such as the vehicle's speed and signals for when the car is braking.”