Manufacturing

Dr Zella King, Senior Lecturer and AIM Innovation Fellow at the University of Reading, UK, has conducted a detailed study of plastic electronics in the UK. The project is funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council and is one of a series of projects considering options for public policy to increase levels of innovation in the UK.

Analysts see printed electronics rising exponentially to around $300 billion in twenty years' time, with demand for conductive inks alone reaching several billion dollars yearly five years from now.

ImageXpert has recently developed two products that allow for a broader range of printed electronic part inspection.

Polymer Vision, a spin out of Royal Philips Electronics, announced first production level rollable electrophoretic displays from its recently acquired manufacturing facility, Polymer Vision (UK) Ltd in Southampton, England - previously owned by Southampton University and called Innos.

On 20 November, the Printed Electronics Arena had a one day meeting in Norrkoping Science Park Sweden

Consumer electronics will mostly be made by printing in the years to come, but the interesting question is whether it will be poisonous either at the level of the factory or the level of the user?

There is a much more balanced situation across the world when it comes to development and production of printed electronic and electric devices.

Plextronics, Inc. announced last week that it has completed a $20.6 million Series B financing. The round is led by Solvay North America Investments, LLC, a member of the Solvay Group, an international chemical and pharmaceutical group headquartered in Brussels.

Overall, Europe may be losing the race for the huge new business of printed electronics and the rejuvenation of society that it will bring. This is despite having far more academic institutions than East Asia working on the subject, the number being comparable to the number in the USA.

The market for organic and printed electronics will rise from $1.18 billion in 2007 to over $300 billion in 20 years, becoming a huge business as the technology offers many different benefits. Here Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, reveals market forecasts and opportunities based on the new IDTechEx report Organic & Printed Electronics Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2027.

Staffan Nordlinder, Acreo, Sweden at Printed Electronics USA 2005