Market Research Report

Transparent Conductor Markets - 2012
cover Published by NanoMarkets
Published Product code 203896
Content info 216 Pages
Price

Introduction

Abstract

Summary

NanoMarkets believes that the next few years will be a turning point for the transparent conductor (TC) business. We foresee opportunities for novel TCs where, for the first time, newer materials have unquestionable market advantages over ITO. This report provides the necessary strategic insight into how TC firms can best generate new business revenues from the rapidly changing business environment in the display and solar panel sectors. It also provides insight into niche applications such as smart windows, BIPV, etc.

Manufacturers of alternative TCs have looked toward the day when flexible displays hit the market, since ITO cannot be used in such displays. That day is now at hand with the first flexible displays from Samsung hitting the market within a year. In this report, we examine how the revenue opportunities will play out for alternative TC makers in this exciting new application area.

TC makers can also look to this report for guidance on opportunities in the OLED display and lighting sector. ITO is not a very effective TC for OLEDs. In this new report, we show how firms offering TC solutions other than ITO can benefit from the considerable growth expected for OLED industry.

Other high-growth display markets for TCs are also analyzed in this report. For example, we see transparent displays as having considerable potential for growth for both signage and augmented reality applications. And we expect transparent displays - almost by definition -- to have special requirements for the TCs that they use. In fact, the report discusses a broader range of opportunities for TCs in the “transparent electronics” sector such as those in smart windows and BIPV glass.

In addition, this report examines opportunities for TCs in more established parts of the display sector. It takes an in depth look at the use of touch-screen technology which is highly suitable for novel TCs. However, there are so many TC firms crowding into this sector that a legitimate question is whether this relatively small market is about to become saturated. This is a question that this report answers. And it also tackles the thorny issue of whether novel TCs can ever displace ITO in the LCD business.

The comprehensive coverage of this report extends beyond the display sector and includes pinpointing the best prospects for TCs in the solar industry. Recently, PV opportunities have been constrained by the influx of low-cost c-Si panels from China with limited need for TCs. In this report, NanoMarkets discusses how the logic of Chinese industrial policy now suggests a revival in the thin-film PV market that will create new opportunities for TCs.

In this report, Chinese industrial policy is also examined for what it will mean for ITO pricing and availability. Whether indium prices really have an impact on the TC market has been a controversial subject and this report cuts to the chase and shows how the ITO supply chain is really likely to evolve going forward in context of what is planned for the Chinese display, PV and indium industries.

Finally, this report analyzes important developments on the TC materials front and it takes a peek at what the next generation of transparent conductors will look like and how these materials will extend addressable markets. This study also contains detailed eight-year forecasts in volume (square meters) and value terms. For each of the applications covered there are breakouts of demand for ITO, other TCOs, ITO/TCO inks, carbon nanotube films, silver-based transparent conductors, other nanometallic transparent conductors and conductive polymers. And there is also a forecast of ITO products by type (sputtering targets, films, coated glass, etc.). Finally, the strategies of the leading TC firms are also assessed in the context of the latest market developments.

About NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets is a leading provider of market research and industry analysis of opportunities within advanced materials and emerging energy and electronics markets. Since the firm's founding, NanoMarkets has published over over one hundred comprehensive research reports on emerging technology markets. Topics covered have included OLED displays, lighting and materials, thin-film electronics, conductive inks, transparent conductors, renewable energy, printed electronics and other promising technologies. Our client roster is a who's who of companies in specialty chemicals, materials, electronics applications and manufacturing.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

  • E.1. ITO Alternatives: A Reboot
  • E.2. The Touch-Screen Sensor Market: Room for Just So Many TC Providers?
  • E.3. What the OLED Explosion Means for Transparent Conductor Makers
  • E.4. Flexibility: A Paradigm Change for the TC Industry?
  • E.5. Better Times Ahead for Selling TCs into the PV Space
  • E.6. Will the LCD Industry Ever Open Up to Alternative Transparent Conductors?
  • E.7. Nice Niches for Transparent Conductors
  • E.8. Thoughts on the Next Generation of Transparent Conductor Materials
  • E.9. Companies to Watch in the Transparent Conductor Space
    • E.9.1. Cambrios
    • E.9.2. Other Firms Producing Silver-based Transparent Conductors: Cima Nanotech, PolyIC, etc.
    • E.9.3. 3M and Dow Chemical: Opportunities for the Specialty Chemical Industry in the Transparent Conductor Market
    • E.9.4. Saint Gobain and Corning: Opportunities for the Glass Industry in the Transparent Conductor Market
    • E.9.5. Agfa, Heraeus and Kodak: What Transparent Conductors Mean for Conductive Polymer FirmsE.9.6 Structures and Strategies in the Carbon Nanotube Transparent Conductor Industry
  • E.10. Summary of Eight-Year Market Forecasts For Transparent Conductor Markets

Chapter One: Introduction

  • 1.1. Background to this Report
    • 1.1.1. The Year 2012 Will Be a Quiet One for the ITO Alternative Business
    • 1.1.2. The Arguments Against ITO Should Be Reconsidered
    • 1.1.3. A Better Case for Alternatives to ITO in 2012 and Beyond
    • 1.1.4. OLEDs, Flexibility and the Transformation of the End User Market for Alternative Transparent Conductors in 2013
    • 1.1.5. The Next Generation of Transparent Conductors: Coming Soon?
  • 1.2. Objectives and Scope of this Report
  • 1.3. Methodology of this Report
  • 1.4. Plan of this Report

Chapter Two: Transparent Conductors - New Technology and Market Developments

  • 2.1. Developments in the ITO Market
    • 2.1.1. Status and Evolution of the ITO Supply Chain and ITO Technology
    • 2.1.2. The ITO Business: Major Players
    • 2.1.3. Traditional Film Deposition Methods and Parameters
  • 2.2. Printed ITO, Sol-Gel, and Other Manufacturing Innovations
    • 2.2.1. ITO Inks: Perhaps a Brighter Future?
  • 2.3. ITO Film Markets
  • 2.4. Indium and the China Factor
    • 2.4.1. Indium Production Trends
    • 2.4.2. Recent Changes in Chinese Government Policy and its Impact on the Indium Market
    • 2.4.3. Do Indium Prices Really Matter to the ITO Market?
    • 2.4.4. Recycling, Reclamation and Improved Processing of ITO
  • 2.5. Other Transparent Conducting Oxides: Past Failures but Future Successes?
    • 2.5.1. Tin Oxide and its Variants
    • 2.5.2. Zinc Oxide and its Variants
    • 2.5.3. More TCOs in the Future
    • 2.5.4. Are Other TCOs Really a Drop-In Replacement?
    • 2.5.5. Why Would PV Ever Leave TCOs?
  • 2.6. Silver Grids and Inks: Continuing Their Upward Path
    • 2.6.1. Nanosilver Transparent Conductors and Suppliers: Nanogrids and Nanoinks
  • 2.7. Are there Opportunities for Copper in the Transparent Conductor Market?
  • 2.8. Carbon Nanotubes: Could They Win in the End?
    • 2.8.1. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Carbon Nanotubes for Transparent Conductors
    • 2.8.2. Limiting the Carbon Nanotube: Making Them "Just Conductors"
    • 2.8.3. Derivatization of Carbon Nanotubes
    • 2.8.4. Carbon Nanotube Transparent Conductors and Suppliers
  • 2.9. The Latest on Where Graphene Stands as a Transparent Conductor
  • 2.10. Conductive Polymers as Transparent Conductors
    • 2.10.1. Transparent Conductive Polymers: How Far Can Performance be Pushed?
    • 2.10.2. Cost Trends for PEDOT:PSS
    • 2.10.3. PEDOT Suppliers for TC Applications
    • 2.10.4. Possible Technology Developments in Conductive Polymers
  • 2.11. The Dawn of Fourth Generation Transparent Conductors
  • 2.12. Key Points Made in this Chapter

Chapter Three: Forecasting Methodology and Assumptions for Markets Analyzed in this Report

  • 3.1. Market Segments Covered: Differences from Previous NanoMarkets Reports 83
    • 3.1.1. Adding Coverage of Transparent Conductors for Flexible and Transparent Electronics
    • 3.1.2. Changes in Areas of Continuing Coverage
  • 3.2. Forecasting Methodology and Assumptions
    • 3.2.1. Materials Covered in the Forecast
    • 3.2.2. Assumptions About Materials Utilization and Wastage
    • 3.2.3. Pricing Assumptions
    • 3.2.4. General Economic Assumptions
    • 3.2.5. Sources of Data

Chapter Four: Display- and Lighting-Related Markets for Transparent Conductors: Eight-Year Forecasts

  • 4.1. Conventional Flat-Panel Displays: Stuck On ITO?
    • 4.1.1. How and When non-ITO Transparent Conductor Firms Will Break into the LCD Market
    • 4.1.2. Strategies for non-ITO Transparent Conductor Firms in the LCD Market
    • 4.1.3. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the Flat-Panel Display Industry
    • 4.1.4. Notes on Transparent Conductors in Plasma Displays
    • 4.1.5. The Impact of Transparent Displays on the Transparent Conductor Market
  • 4.2. Touch-Screens: Why Transparent Conductor Firms Love Them
    • 4.2.1. Changing Transparent Conductor Needs for Touch Displays
    • 4.2.2. For How Long Will the Touch Market Be Big Enough for Alternative Transparent Conductor Firms?
    • 4.2.3. The Analog-Resistive Touch Sensors as a Market for Transparent Conductors
    • 4.2.4. Projected-Capacitive Touch Sensors as a Market for Transparent Conductors
    • 4.2.5. Other Touch-Related Opportunities for Transparent Conductors
    • 4.2.6. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the Touch-Screen Sensor Industry
  • 4.3. Transparent Conductors for the New OLED Market
    • 4.3.1. The OLED Industry Leaps Forward
    • 4.3.2. How OLEDs Potentially Shrink the TC Market
    • 4.3.3. The Quest to Get Rid of ITO in OLEDs
    • 4.3.4. Transparent Conductors in Active Matrix OLED Displays
    • 4.3.5. OLED Lighting Markets for Transparent Conductors
    • 4.3.6. Future Use of Alternative Transparent Conductive Oxides in OLEDs
    • 4.3.7. Future Use of Conductive Polymers as a Transparent Conductor in OLEDs
    • 4.3.8. Future Use of Nanomaterials as a Transparent Conductor in OLEDs
    • 4.3.9. The Impact of Flexible and Transparent OLED Products on Transparent Conductor Demand
    • 4.3.10. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the OLED Display and Lighting Market
  • 4.4. Flexible Displays and Lighting Mythologies and Realities: Their Impact on the Transparent Conductor Market.
    • 4.4.1. Transparent Conductors in Curved and Conformal Display and Lighting Panels
    • 4.4.2. Transparent Conductors for Roll-to-Roll Processing of Lighting and Display Panels
    • 4.4.3. Transparent Conductors for Intrinsically Flexible Displays
  • 4.5. E-Paper and Transparent Conductors: A Niche Market Ignored by the Alternative Transparent Conductor Business
    • 4.5.1. Transparent Conductor Opportunities in the E-Paper Space
    • 4.5.2. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the E-Paper Display and Lighting Market
  • 4.6. Key Points Made in this Chapter

Chapter Five: Solar Panel Markets for Transparent Conductors: Eight-Year Forecasts

  • 5.1. Thin-Film Photovoltaics: Where ITO has Already Met Its Match
    • 5.1.1. The Coming Renaissance for Thin-Film PV: Implications for the Transparent Conductor Business
    • 5.1.2. CdTe PV: Long-Term Decline in Transparent Conductor Usage
    • 5.1.3. CIGS PV: A New Hope for Transparent Conductor Usage
    • 5.1.4. Transparent Conductor Usage for the Thin-Film Silicon PV Sector
    • 5.1.5. Flexible PV, BIPV and New Opportunities for Transparent Conductors
    • 5.1.6. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the Thin-Film PV Market
  • 5.2. Organic PV and Dye Sensitized Cells: A Worthwhile Market for Transparent Conductor Suppliers
    • 5.2.1. DSC and Transparent Conductors
    • 5.2.2. Organic PV and Transparent Conductors
    • 5.2.3. Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductors in the OPV/DSC Market
  • 5.3. Key Points Made in this Chapter

Chapter Six: Other Markets for Transparent Conductors: Eight-Year Forecasts

  • 6.1. Transparent Conductor Opportunities for Antistatic Coatings, Infrared Protection and Smart Windows
    • 6.1.1. Eight-Year Forecast of Transparent Conductors for Antistatic Coatings
    • 6.1.2. Infrared Protection Opportunities for Transparent Conductors
    • 6.1.3. Future Opportunities for Transparent Conductors in the Smart Windows Segment
  • 6.2. Applications for Transparent Conductive Coatings in the EMI/RFI Shielding Market: Eight-Year Forecasts
  • 6.3. Yet More Applications for Transparent Conductive Coatings
  • 6.4. Key Points Made in this Chapter

Chapter Seven: Summary of Eight-Year Forecasts of Transparent Conductor Markets

  • 7.1. Eight-Year Forecasts of ITO and Other Transparent Conductors by Material Type
    • 7.1.1. Eight-Year Forecast of ITO Markets
    • 7.1.2. Eight-Year Forecast of non-ITO TCO Markets
    • 7.1.3. Eight-Year Forecast of ITO/TCO Ink Markets
    • 7.1.4. Eight-Year Forecast of Carbon Nanotube Film Markets
    • 7.1.5. Eight-Year Forecast of Nanosilver Transparent Conductors Film Markets
    • 7.1.6. Eight-Year Forecast of Other Nanometallic Transparent Conductor Markets
    • 7.1.7. Eight-Year Forecast of Transparent Conductive Polymer Markets 161
    • 7.1.8. Eight-Year Forecast of Other Transparent Conductor Materials Markets
  • 7.2. Summary by Type of Material
  • 7.3. Summary by Applications
  • 7.4. Summary of ITO Forecasts by Type of ITO Product: Targets, Film and Coated Glass
  • 7.5. Key Points Made in this Chapter
  • Acronyms and Abbreviations Used In this Report
  • About the Author

Transparent Conductor Markets - 2012 published by NanoMarkets in August 14, 2012. This report consists of 216 Pages and the price starts from US $ 2995.

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