Stretchable electronics market
According to the World’s largest market research store the stretchable electronics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 106.18% during the forecast period to reach the market size from US$4.7 billion in 2015 to US$360 billion by 2021.
As an example, wearable, flexible electronic devices are made of stretchable and flexible materials mounted inside material’s structure. They can use wireless communication and make basic measurements (e.g. body temperature, heart rate or muscle activity), but still gain new types of functionality (very helpful in hospitals for remotely monitoring life parameters of patients). Manufacturers are continuously looking for new applications that would allow stretchable electronics be a part of broader market available for regular people. Another use of stretchable electronics is in e.g. stretch sensors, stretchable conductive films, printed circuit boards, electronic components etc.
According to the article, some of the main ‘ingredients’ leading to successful expanding of the ‘stretchables market’ are:
- growth in the consumer electronics market,
- increased usage of organic solar cells,
- comprehensive analysis of stretchable materials to increase its stretchability,
- miniaturisation of electronic products leading to faster operational speed
These devices also have advantages that are worth mentioning such as light weight, high performance, and low producing costs also counting as positives contributing to market growth. Depending on the situation where specific flexible device will be used, the market can be divided into categories like for example: consumer electronics, healthcare, aerospace and defense, communication and technology, and automotive.
Source: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xxbkdt/stretchable
Photo: Dae-Hyeong Kim, Ph.D., University of Illinois