New n-tech Research Report Sees Smart Mirrors Becoming a $7 Billion Business

Industry Analyst firm n-tech Research believes we are entering a critical period for smart mirrors, in terms of both their technology evolution and their arrival into end markets. In its latest report, the firm sees the smart mirrors market currently valued at $1.8 billion in revenue in 2015, driven almost entirely by the automotive sector, but increasing to $3.0 billion by 2018 and to more than $7 billion by 2022 as smart mirrors gain significant adoption in retail and consumer sectors.

Details of the new report, “Smart Mirrors Technologies and Markets, 2015-2022” including a downloadable excerpt, are available at: https://ntechresearch.com/market_reports/smart-mirrors-technologies-and-markets-2015-2022

About the Report:

The concept has been around for decades: imbue the humble mirror with additional smart functionalities to perform tasks that otherwise would require manual activation by a person or by some other system. These functionalities are derived from: (1) improved coatings for self-dimming, cleaning, and repair, and (2) incorporation of various embedded electronics: sensors, displays, cameras, touchscreens, wireless networking, lighting, and software/processing to stitch them all together.

The basic growth drivers for smart mirrors can be aligned around three or four categories: safety, advertising/marketing, comfort/convenience, and design/style.  In applications outside of automotive, smart mirrors are intended to serve as information hubs, to adjust the user’s ambient surroundings, and even deliver energy savings.

This n-tech Research report updates our evaluation of the various types of technologies that companies are using to make mirrors “smart,” while exploring the different value propositions across several key end-market sectors: automotive, home/consumer, retail/commercial, and medical/healthcare. We provide eight-year forecasts for the various “smart” technologies in each sector, both in volumes and in value terms.

Among the companies discussed in this report:  Acep, ad notam, AdBurg, Admirror, AGC, Alke, Bloomingdale’s, ClearView, Dension, eBay, Electric Mirror, EverVue, Ficosa, Frame My TV, Gentex, Innoviesoft, Intel, Intelligent Glass, JumiTech, LG, Magna Mirrors, MemoMi, Mmapsmobile, MultiTaction, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Panasonic, Philips, Pilkington, Pioneer, Procter & Gamble/Oral-B, ProVision, Rebecca Minkoff, Samsung, Séura, Solufarm, Sony, Toshiba, and Zytronic.

Highlights from the Report:

Some individual trends we highlight in this new report:

•           Self-dimming coatings remain a central feature for automotive mirrors, but other kinds of smart coatings –- self cleaning and self-healing—have yet to really prove their worth in any end markets for smart mirrors. Instead, a smart mirror’s extra functions are increasingly delivered through, and even enabled by, various types of embedded electronics, and in multiple iterations.
•           The more electronics that smart mirrors integrate, the harder it is to define exactly what some of these products are: Is it a mirror with an embedded display? Is a giant display with cameras trained on the user, a smart mirror? What about a display with a reflective layer, gesture recognition, and other sensors? Future smart mirrors will largely be defined by the end applications—and in many cases they might be true mirrors in name only.
•           Self-dimming automotive mirrors are incorporating additional higher-tech capabilities such as cameras and displays, thanks to market demand and government regulations. Meanwhile, the newest wave of smart mirror roll-outs in retail and consumer environments involve some very large brand names and some equally major technology giants, alongside smaller companies making inroads.
•           Automotive remains by far the largest market for smart mirrors in our near-term view. However, we see enormous potential in key markets of home/consumer and retail/commercial/advertising, which we expect will become billion-dollar markets by the end of our eight-year forecast period.

About n-tech Research

n-tech Research is the leading provider of market research and industry analysis for the advanced materials sector, with a special focus on the latest functional and smart materials. The company is the next evolution of NanoMarkets and represents a rebrand and more from what has been an extremely successful firm that started back in 2004.

Our reports and services are designed to identify the latest business opportunities, whether they involve printing, coating, or patterning materials. Our client roster is a who’s who of companies in specialty chemicals, materials, electronics applications and manufacturing.