Printed Electronics — On Track to a Major Industry

The remarkable progress of Plastic Logic in setting up production for flexible electrophoretic displays enabled by its printed organic field effect transistors can be contrasted with Sony in Japan setting out to do the same thing. In this case we have a giant corporation that is already selling rigid electrophoretic displays. However, it has been late in developing printed organic thin film transistors on flexible substrates, issuing most patents in 2006/7 as it races to catch up. The new markets that the two companies create for e-books, signage, military roll up displays and so on will be big enough for both of them to prosper. Perhaps they will both end up making their highest volumes in China but one giant will be notably absent. Xerox has shut down its Gyricon subsidiary developing flexible electrophoretic displays. This sort of interplay will be worked out with photovoltaics, batteries and many other printed components in the next few years and clearly it is wrong to believe that the giants will always win. Some of the small companies like Plastic Logic have many giant backers anyway. It would also be wrong to say that manufacture in a certain part of the world is a guarantee of success.