Printed Flexible Sensor Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Printed Flexible Sensor Market was valued at USD 2.59 billion in the previous year and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.47%, reaching USD 4.10 billion by the next five years. Printed and flexible electronics use advanced electronic printing methods to create devices such as sensors on different substrates. The inks, substrate, and printing techniques create a unique technology allowing greater flexibility, lower cost of ownership, and speed.

Key Highlights

• The development of organic semiconductors, conductive polymers, amorphous silicon, and conductive inks in recent decades has meant huge strides toward processability and flexibility. Thus, these materials have become the base for the development of flexible and printed electronic devices, such as sensors, in applications that require rolling, bending, folding, and stretching, among other properties that conventional electronics find hard to fulfill.
• A significant driving factor behind the growth of the market studied is the recent progression in demand for energy-efficient, thin, and flexible consumer electronics products. Besides, the miniaturization trend is becoming prevalent across various end-user industries, such as consumer electronics, medical devices, and automotive, which is another major factor that is expected to positively influence the growth of the market studied. Furthermore, in the next few years, the prices of printed and flexible sensors are anticipated to decline owing to further development in material types and advancements in manufacturing processes, which is also likely to enhance the market’s growth.
• Over the years, the penetration of consumer electronic products has increased significantly. Urbanization, changing lifestyles, the growing demand for convenience products, and technological advancement bringing the price of consumer products down are among the major factors driving this growth.
• The evolution of flexible and printed electronic sensor technology has been opening a wide range of exciting new applications, such as flexible sensing technologies for consumer electronics, textiles, and wearables with sensors that help monitor the health and habits of a user, implantable electronics for improved medical diagnostics and imaging, as well as helping the robots and unmanned aircraft extend their functionality through these sensors.
• The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental influence on the market due to several cities being shut down, causing damage to the supply chain for electronic device production and impacting the sales of some of the electronic products worldwide, especially during the initial phase. However, with the pandemic’s effect reducing globally, major end-user industries, such as consumer electronics and automotive, started showing an upward growth trend, thereby resulting in an increased demand for flexible and printed sensor products.

Printed Flexible Sensor Market Trends

Medical and Healthcare to Witness the Growth

• The medical and healthcare industry is one of the prominent consumers of the printed and flexible sensors market. The advent of agile procedures, digital technologies, and seamless techniques in the sector has forced industry players to shift their focus toward advanced and smart sensor technology. Printed and flexible sensors are widely used in the medical and healthcare industry as they are arranged on a patient's body and can be used to closely monitor the patient's physiological condition. These sensors are used in electronic skin patches to track vital biometric parameters such as heart rate, respiration rate, muscle activity, temperature, and movement.
• The printed and flexible sensor market will witness high growth in the medical and healthcare industry as it provides doctors and patients with unprecedented amounts of health data and offer immediate diagnostics and monitoring. It is also utilized for various regular health examinations and tests.
• Printed and flexible sensors are eco-friendly in nature and have the ability to fit onto various small, differently shaped electronic medical devices. The demand for biosensors is expected to grow in the medical and healthcare industry as they can measure the reaction between a bodily fluid and an enzyme. For example, a blood glucose strip for diabetes patients. Moreover, this sensor can be used to gather information from saliva, sweat, and blood. Furthermore, temperature sensors help to detect the change in the electrical signal of the thermos-sensitive material in response to a change in temperature.
• Moreover, printed and flexible sensors can be integrated into containers such as tablet blisters or drips to track the amount of liquid or medication and ensure the correct dosage of medication or timely replenishment, further benefits more health insurance companies and patients and it particularly relevant for essential as well as expensive medications. Additionally, these sensors can be used as disposable products as they can be printed on recycled and organic materials.

Aisa Pacific Holds a Dominant Position in Printed Flexible Sensor Market

• The Asia-Pacific region comprises China, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific customers are increasingly accustomed to utilizing flexible displays, driving demand for innovative, flexible products, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other gadgets. Printed and flexible sensors that can efficiently detect a range of stimuli associated with certain biological or environmental species have gained substantial attention from academics in recent years due to their huge potential for wearable electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The market is thus expected to increase more quickly than usual throughout the forecasted period.
• Flexible and printed sensors have already begun to appear in daily life. For instance, printed aerials for automobiles, smart textiles with pressure sensors to identify seat occupancy, and medical test stripes with diagnostic electrodes are some examples. In accordance with that, researchers at the University of Tokyo launched optoelectronic skin with an ultra-thin, flexible LED display that can be worn on the back of the hand.
• Therfore, Flexible sensors are frequently employed in health diagnostics, motion tracking, and human-computer interface due to their exceptional tensile qualities, electrical conductivity, and fit. However, owing to the inherent viscoelasticity of soft materials, the flexible sensor cannot quickly regain its previous form under dynamic loading.
• This causes a significant amount of hysteresis in the flexible sensor's signal, which has a negative impact on the monitoring accuracy of the flexible sensor. A high resilience, low hysteresis, and adaptable porous flexible sensor made of photocurable 3D printed ionogelwere developed by the research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fujian Institute for Research on the Structure of Matter.

Printed Flexible Sensor Industry Overview

The market for the printed flexible sensors is highly concentrated and consists of a few significant players. In terms of market share, few of these major players currently dominate the market. Various companies are focusing on organic and inorganic growth strategies such as product launches, product approvals, patents, acquisitions, and partnerships. These influential players with a noticeable share in the market are concentrating on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These businesses are leveraging strategic collaborative actions to improve their market percentage and enhance their profitability.

• February 2023 - Brewer Science Inc. announced the launch of hybrid printed sensors for efficient, real-time water quality monitoring to measure lead, nitrate, and pH at LOPEC in Germany. These sensors are made possible by combining printed electronics with next-generation materials. The result is a continuous real-time monitoring platform capable of multi-sensing arrays and associated multifaceted sensor solutions.
• January 2023 - Isorgannounced strategic collaborations with Precise Biometrics on a new fingerprint display (FoD) solution for the mobile industry. Through this collaboration, both companies aim to help smartphone OEMs and display makers build next-generation products. The company has developed large-area fingerprint modules that are commercially available in different sizes, from 20x30 mm2 up to full-display versions.

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