Rapid growth forecast for organic electronics

Organic electronics is rapidly making its way out of the lab and into real world applications, according to industry analyst firm NanoMarkets.

A new report finds the market for products such as OLEDs, organic thin-film transistors and other electronic products made from organic materials will grow from $1.4 billion in 2007 to $19.7 billion by 2012 and then go on to reach $34.4 billion in revenues by 2014.

Additional information about the report: "Organic electronics: a market and technology assessment" including the first chapter can be found on the firm's website.

Findings from this important report include the emergence of OLEDs.

OLED displays are no longer just for low-end MP3 players and cellphone subdisplays, they are becoming part of the latest mobile electronics concepts including LG's ebook laptop and Sony-Ericsson's ultraslim cellphone.

Wireless device manufacturers are attracted by OLED technology's low power consumption and excellent video qualities which mesh well with the needs of the burgeoning mobile video market.

By 2012, the OLED industry including display, signage and lighting applications is expected to reach $10.8 billion.

Products based on organic transistors are for real: RFID is an application in which organic transistors are expected to successfully compete with mainstream silicon technology.

In 2007 the market will see the first commercial organic RFID tags from firms such as Motorola, OrganicID and PolyIC.

NanoMarkets believes that by 2012, the market for organic RFIDs will reach $4.5 billion.

Organic transistors are also already enabling new business revenues in the form of display backplanes (in the much talked about Sony book reader, for example), which are expected to generate $1.6 billion in revenues by 2012 as well as in some toys and games.

The market for toys, games and other novelties will reach about $1 billion by 2012.

New materials will appear and prices will fall: the commercialisation of organic electronics is also leading to research into new kinds of materials.

For example, solution-processable small molecule materials promise larger and lower cost OLED displays and hybrid organic/inorganic materials will help expand the photovoltaic markets with lower cost solar panels and effective solar chargers for mobile electronics.

And, as organic electronics materials begin to be manufactured in commercial quantities, NanoMarkets expects prices to fall dramatically which, in turn, will make it easier for organic electronics to penetrate new markets.

As the OE business grows, equipment suppliers have a strong incentive to build specialist production equipment to serve the needs of this budding industry.

For example, organic vapour deposition (OVPD) systems promise better performance and cost characteristics for organics than the traditional vacuum deposition methods used in the semiconductor industry.

Gen 7 ink-jet printers from firms such as Litrex will also pave the way to the rapid commercialisation of organic electronics.

NanoMarkets' new report: "Organic electronics: a market and technology assessment", is the latest in a series of reports from the firm that tracks developments in the areas of thin film, organic and printable electronics.

The report shows where the most important opportunities will be found in organic electronics including displays, signage, lighting, backplanes, sensors, RFIDs, batteries, computer memory, photovoltaics and toys and games.

The report looks at the activities of numerous firms operating in this space including Cambridge Display, Dow, GE, IBM, Kodak, Konarka, LG, Osram, Plastic Logic, Merck, Philips, Samsung Siemens and many others.

It discusses key advances in materials and manufacturing and contains eight-year market forecasts of all leading organic electronic market segments.

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