Printed Thin Film Battery Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Printed Thin Film Battery Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.7% over the forecast period 2021 to 2026.

Key Highlights

• Intrinsic properties of flexible, printed, and thin-film solid-state batteries include lighter weight, longer lifespan, high energy density, improved safety performance, and application in medical equipment, wearable devices, and smart cards, among others, are expected to drive their demand in the market.
• The growing demand for wearable devices is anticipated to provide potential growth landscape for printed thin-film battery market over the forecast period. Wearable devices such as smart clothing, smartwatches, and fitness bands incorporate thin film and flexible batteries due to their compact design and enhanced recharging rate.
• According to Cisco Systems, the number of connected wearable devices globally has more than doubled in three years, increasing from 325 million in 2016 to 722 million in 2019. The number of devices is projected to reach more than one billion by 2022.
• Key vendors in the market focus on innovation and technological advancements to deliver improved battery performance and grab maximum share of the market. For instance, Cymbet Corporation, in June 2019, introduced the next generation of Power Management with RTC (PMRTC) products, which integrates an ultra-low-power Real-Time Clock (RTC) with power management and power switching optimized for the innovative applications.
• Thin printed thin film batteries are the ideal solution for energy harvesting systems for their ultra-thin profile and low leakage characteristics. Increasing the adoption of energy harvesting-based autonomous wireless sensor nodes has created massive opportunities for thin film batteries as a power source. For the energy harvesting application, several companies are looking for flexible thin film batteries to power wireless sensors.
• Cost constraint and low energy density of currently available flexible thin film and printed batteries are some significant restraints for the market growth. However, growing demand for printed electronics, and a surge in rechargeable batteries are anticipated to generate potential opportunities for the flexible thin film and printed battery industry.

Key Market Trends

Wearable Technology Application Segment to Drive the Market

• The application of wearable devices is growing from consumer electronics and healthcare sectors to wireless communication devices and is witnessing increasing product innovations with new product launches and developments. These devices require high flexibility and ultra-thin design, which can be achieved by implementing printed thin-film batteries.
• According to Fitbit, in 2019, the company's year-end revenue totaled 1.43 billion U.S. dollars and sold about 16 million units of its smart fitness devices. As of 2016, 44.5 million health and fitness trackers were sold worldwide, and the figure is expected to increase to 105 million in 2022. The overall wearables market is forecasted to generate more than 73 billion U.S. dollars in revenues in 2022 as per the same source.
• Printed batteries have a diversity of uses in the wearable devices industry. Sales of smartwatches are principally powering growth within the wearable devices market as, according to Cisco Systems, the shipments of smartwatches worldwide are forecasted to surpass 100 million in 2020, consequently encouraging the growth.
• Companies such as Flexel LLC (U.S.), Jenax (South Korea), and many more are working toward developing the printed thin-film batteries so that these can be integrated into the ever-increasing demand for wearable technology-based devices. Moreover, compact size and lightweight of wearable batteries are likely to maximize their penetration rate.

APAC to Dominate the Market

• Major consumer electronics manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region are modernizing their product designs to function using thin power sources for compatibility with their products' flexible designs. As a result, the technological progressions in smart packaging and consumer electronics and the increasing popularity of wearable devices in this region are feeding the growth of the market. For instance, according to Cisco Systems, in 2020, Asia Pacific is forecasted to have a 32.4% share of wearable devices worldwide as against 29% in 2017.
• Moreover, the expanding electronic manufacturing industry due to a vast consumer base and increasing applications in countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea are likely to support industry growth. The progress in technology with R&D of thin-film products and the field of compact size devices have led to the demand for flexible electronics products, resulting in the growth of the printed thin film battery market.
• Moreover, prominent consumer electronics companies in the APAC region miniaturize their product designs, which require thin power sources for adjustability with the thin film and printed designs of their products. Consequently, this advancement in technology in the flexible electronics industry fueled the growth of the printed thin film battery market in the APAC region.

Competitive Landscape

The Printed Thin Film Battery Market is highly concentrated and consists of several players. In terms of market share, none of the players presently command the market. The market is viewed as a lucrative investment opportunity due to the attractive earnings generated from it. Manufacturers, focusing primarily on the development of efficient printed thin-film batteries, offer technologically innovative products that provide a variety of benefits related to power efficiency and product design. Industry players are investing in R&D to strengthen their market positions. Key players in the market are Blue Spark Technologies​, Enfucell OY Ltd., Brightvolt Inc., Cymbet Corporation, Inc., and Imprint Energy, Inc.among others.

• March 2020 - Enfucell recently released its new product the Wearable Temperature Tag. The tag is based on a combined technology of NFC, intelligent temperature sensor, and SoftBattery (printed paper batteries).
• Aug 2019 - Imprint Energy announced the expanded availability of its developer’s kit for its ultrathin, safe, flexible, printed batteries. The batteries pack the power to communicate over short or long distances, and were especially designed to power IoT devices integrated with Semtech’s LoRa devices for low power wide area networks (LPWAN), as well as working with Bluetooth Low Energy and other standards.

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