Functional printing market to reach $13.7bn by 2020

The demand for a new variety of low-cost electronic products has pushed the demand for 'functional printing' across geographies. The functional printing market is expected to reach US$13.7bn by 2020, according to a new report by Markets and Markets.

The functional printing technology is advancing from research and development into production and is penetrating many applications like sensors, batteries, RFID, photovoltaic and flexible display. The cost of producing silicon-based components using conventional fabrication methods is high and raises environmental issues. These issues have pushed the demand for low-cost and environmentally sustainable techniques.

Conventional printing techniques like inkjet, screen, flexography and gravure have been modified so as to be capable of printing on a range of substrates using functional inks. Currently, the screen printing technique dominates the functional printing market due to its high reliability, and it is mainly used in the production of RFID antennas and sensors.

There are a lot of materials being developed as substrates and inks for printed products. The development of new inks, graphene for instance, and substrates, is further facilitating the companies to adopt printed electronics using functional printing.

The functional printing market is segmented into five categories that include materials, technology, coating, application and geography. This report divides the overall market into four major geographical segments, namely North America, Europe, APAC and ROW. North America contributes more when compared to the other segments. The manufacturers of the functional printing equipment and suppliers of materials are mainly from North America; as for the APAC region, most of the demand comes, especially, from China.

The major companies in the functional printing market are Avery Dennison Corporation (US), BASF SE (Germany), Blue Spark Technologies (US), DuraTech Industries, Inc (US), E Ink Holdings, Inc (Taiwan), Eastman Kodak Company (US), EnfucellOy (Finland), ESMA (Belgium), GSI Technologies LLC (US), ISORG (France), Kovio, Inc (US), Mark Andy, Inc (US), Nano Solar, Inc (US), Novaled AG (Germany), Optomec Inc (US), Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated (PARC) (US), Toppan Forms Co Ltd (US), Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co Ltd (US), Trident Industrial Inkjet (US), Vorbeck Materials (US), Xaar PLC (UK) and Xennia (UK).