Printed Flexible Sensor Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

Market Overview

Printed flexible sensors that efficiently detect various stimuli relevant to specific environmental or biological species have been extensively studied due to their great potential for the Internet of Things and wearable electronics applications. The application of flexible and stretchable electronics to device- engineering technologies has enabled the fabrication of slender, lightweight, stretchable, and foldable sensors. Ultra-thin chip technology is recognized as an enabler for mastering bottlenecks in microelectronics, such as 3D integration, which may give growth opportunities for the market. The use of printed flexible sensors in IoT applications is a significant driver for the market.

• The trend is the expansion of a wearable and flexible sweat-sensing platform toward real-time multiplexed perspiration analysis. An integrated iontophoresis module on a wearable sweat sensor could enable autonomous and programmed sweat extraction. Flexible and stretchable tactile sensors that are printable, nonplanar, and dynamically morphing are emerging to allow proprioceptive interactions with the unstructured surrounding environment.
• According to Studies by the NHS (National Health Service) and CQC (Care Quality Commission), the right use of connected health technology condensed death rates by 45%, A&E visits by 15%, and emergency hospital admissions by 20%. From in-vivo sensors, wearable technology, to reusable medical devices, companies help gain from advances in printed flexible sensors to improve care and provide a better patient experience.
• The flexible printed sensors can deliver unique solutions in the context of an aging population, getting healthcare closer to the patient, and strengthening healthcare costs. The capability to incorporate power sources (thin batteries, RF induction, and energy harvesting), sensors (chemical, electrical, optical, and MEMS) and RF (components and communications) in flexible, thin, and comfortably wearable formats will be necessary.
• Progression in demand for Energy-efficient, thin, and flexible consumer electronics products is driving the growth of the market. As printed electronics is a future technology, it is playing a principal role in the design and development of printed and flexible sensors technology. The growth of printed sensors has raised the need for flexible circuits. The demand for these kinds of circuits has developed, especially in consumer electronics.
• Repeated delays in commercialization of printed flexible sensor technologies attributable to materials and manufacturing challenges have affected large established electronics firms as well as startups. These difficulties underscore the reality that widespread commercialization will require further advances in manufacturing technology, materials, equipment, and processes.

Scope of the Report

Sensors that are printed on flexible substrates signify a growing market. While some may consist of a very simple structure with only a few electrodes, others are much more complicated and need the deposition of many layers. What they have in common is the ability to be printed on plastic substrates, which offer benefits in terms of mechanical flexibility, thinness, and weight decrease.

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Key Market Trends

Consumer Electronics Drives the Printed Flexible Sensor Market

• Printed flexible consumer electronics find progressively more interesting applications that exploit the use of sensors. Large-area, flexibility, conformability, and stretchability made possible by unique processes contribute to form-factors that are extraordinary in electronics, allowing an added natural interaction between electronics and the human body and making it possible to pick up e.g., biopotentials, movements and vital signs like oxygen saturation in the blood.
• Flexible fingerprint sensors can be integrated into products like mobile phones, wearables, bringing capabilities to biometric applications, as there is an augmented necessity for ultra-thin sensors that can be applied to non-flat surfaces, and that can be mass-produced over large areas. For instance, FlexEnable Limited has industrialized the world’s first 500 dpi flexible fingerprint sensor on a plastic substrate, allowing for small and large area fingerprint scanning.
• The consumer demand for flexible printed wearables has increased rapidly with the advent of recent commercial health monitoring systems. For example, flexible temperature sensors developed with metallic tracks printed on polymer substrates typically rely on the variation of metal resistance with temperature; and the pressure sensor commonly operates via the resistance changing when pressure is applied.
• With many industries investing significantly in IoT devices, coupled with the decreasing usage of IoT sensors, a substantial increase in the need for wearable devices, across many sectors, is anticipated. This is supposed to significantly boost the market growth for wearable sensors in the foreseeable future.
• For instance, smartwatch unit sales increased from 5 million in 2014 to 141 million in 2018, according to the Consumer Technology Association. Besides, according to Cisco Systems, the number of connected wearable devices globally has more than doubled in three years, growing from 325 million in 2016 to 722 million in 2019. The number of devices is projected to reach more than one billion by 2022.

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