Plastics

The future $300 billion market for printed electronics is emerging via thin film electronics. The contribution of organic materials to this is greatly publicized but the best devices being developed usually rely on inorganic or combined inorganic/organic technology. The more select groups developing these inorganic materials and devices have a great future. IDTechEx has published the first study on Inorganic Printed and Thin Film Electronics. Here Dr Peter Harrop summarises some of the findings.

The main emphasis of RFID use and supply has radically changed course. That was the message of the large IDTechEx RFID Smart Labels USA event in Boston last week. The business is booming in just about every sector other than the supply of pallet and case tagging to retailer and military mandates.

In 2007, approximately 650 billion articles will be sent through postal and courier systems around the world. After retail, the tagging of each postal item is the next largest potential market for RFID by volume of tags. There are numerous significant RFID roll-outs in this sector which are under publicized, and here Raghu Das from IDTechEx summarises the latest progress.

RFID in healthcare is growing rapidly to become a $2.1 billion global business in 2016. Smart packaging for healthcare has additional value, for example, ensuring that people take the correct pills at the right time. RFID can improve the lives of patients in many different ways...

Investors seek unique technologies, then some major customers. Passive RFID oversupplied; but opportunities for active RFID and software.

The market for RFID tags and systems in healthcare will rise rapidly from $90 million in 2006 to $2.1 billion in 2016. Learn more in our summary of our new research report.

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The fifth - and largest - IDTechEx event RFID Smart Labels USA event

As processes are scaled up and costs have to come down, we see printed electronics increasingly being made with traditional high speed printing technology, particularly as suitably thin, high integrity inks become available. Read about this battle.

RFID tags that do not contain a silicon chip are called chipless tags. The primary potential benefit of the most promising chipless tags is that eventually they could be printed directly on products and packaging for 0.1 cents and replace ten trillion barcodes yearly with something far more versatile and reliable. Learn more from exclusive new IDTechEx research.