Remarkable Changes of Emphasis Revealed at Printed Electronics USA 2006

Timescales have changed. Flexible OLEDs, as displays, signage or lighting, now look ten years away but electrophoretics, such as the Sony / E-ink e-books, are already here with flexible versions much less than ten years away. Some pundits have responded by newly forecasting printed flexible OLEDs at low volumes for the next few years but flexible electrophoretics volumes are predicted to be much higher. Many forms of photovoltaics now look launchable in 2007, so maybe some forecasts for this sector will rise. Printed Thin Film Transistor Circuits remain one year away but many working samples were shown of imaginative potential applications such as illuminating warnings of temperature excursion of food, with primitive RFID functionality. There is less talk nowadays of using TFTCs in unimaginative replacement of existing products. Most agree that a high percentage of applications of printed electronics in the next few years will be in applications created out of fresh air – new markets.