Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductors to Become a $500 Million Market

The market for silver nanowire (Ag NW) transparent conductor (TC) materials, currently riding the wave of applications for touch sensors, is projected to rise from $41 million in 2015 to about $158 million by 2018 and $485 million by 2022. Along the way, other end markets will catch up to provide good revenue opportunities for Ag NW TCs, most notably solar PV to OLED displays, according to industry analyst firm NanoMarkets. Details of the new report, “Market Opportunities for Silver Nanowire Transparent Conductors, 2015-2022” including a downloadable excerpt, are available at:  https://nanomarkets.net/market_reports/report/market-opportunities-for-silver-nanowire-transparent-conductors-2015-2022

The report follows two recent studies issued by the firm on carbon nanotube (CNT) and metal mesh based transparent conductor/ITO replacement markets.

About the Report:

This report analyzes the latest developments in Ag NW transparent conductor technologies, their advantages and drawbacks, and what we see as their potential adoption in various key end markets. The goal is to examine the advantages and latest improvements seen in Ag NWs, and apply that to opportunities in various and changing end applications — and thus identify revenue potential. We also examine the trend of vertical integration that has especially emerged within the Ag NW sector, and the claimed advantages for each company’s strategy therein.

This report also examines the products and companies that supply them to the major market segments; mainly with emphasis on the trio of main Ag NW TC companies and their supply chain. Companies discussed include:  Cambrios, Carestream, Cima, 3M, ClearJet, InkTec, Armor Group, Atmel, Blue Nano, CN Innovations, Heraeus, InTouch Technology, Innova Dynamics, SABIC, Seashell Technology, and Synaptics.

Highlights from the Report:

• Ag NW TCs appear to be on the verge on some interesting market transformations. In touch sensors, Ag NWs have established a presence in smaller format touch panels, but they are increasingly being improved to go up to larger touch panels and compete with metal mesh TCs (and vice versa, fending off metal meshes moving to smaller formats).
• However, there are perceived limits to how far the touch display paradigm can be pushed, including the emergence of other interface designs such as gesture control. Thus, Ag NW companies are returning their attention to thin-film solar PV, as well as new markets for OLED displays and lighting where transparency and flexibility requirements would be checkmarks in Ag NWs’ favor.
• A number of ongoing issues are said to still plague Ag NW TCs, from haze to silver migration and environmental instability. Many of these descriptions are of an anecdotal nature, with rather a feel of competitive saber-rattling to them. Such criticisms also are not unique to any one group of TC technology suppliers — including Ag NW suppliers’ thoughts on competitive TC technologies.
• Other metals besides silver, such as gold or copper, continue to be explored as nanowire/nanostructures for TCs but have yet to show real commercial promise. Other R&D is exploring other Ag NW capabilities such as stretchability and fatigue, as well as different electrode patterns. These have some relevance to flexible displays — and even more importantly, in the context of wearable electronics.

About NanoMarkets

NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging markets in energy, electronics and other area created by developments in advanced materials. Visit www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets’ reports and other services.