IDTechEx Research announces report on TCF

Market opportunities are emerging, changing the prospects of various technologies and increasing the demand overall in the coming years. In fact, IDTechEx Research forecasts that these new market opportunities will grow to represent nearly 45% of the total TCF market in 2027, up from <10% in 2017. The usefulness of the strategy of slashing prices to protect market share will have plateaued, bringing more stability to the market.

Multiple technologies have been developed in the past 15 years to act as TCFs with mixed commercial results. This report provides a full, global and up-to-date picture of the industry dynamics and business landscape.

Some TCF technologies have under-performed even compared to the incumbent solution and have thus faced an uphill battle to gain market acceptance, whilst others have established themselves as sustaining technologies to further the performance of TCFs in markets that require the same function but higher performance.

Leading ITO alternative technologies are however beginning to make commercial impact. Metal mesh, in particular, is leading the pack. The technology has improved, both in terms of performance and yield, whilst new methods of manufactures are continually developed.

Silver nanowires have seen multiple false starts, often coming tantalising close to major success stories. The supplier base here has expanded as the business landscape has been re-drawn with recent acquisitions.

These two technologies have raised the performance bar for other ITO alternative technologies such as carbon nanotubes, PEDOT, graphene and so on. These technologies face dimmed market prospects in this sector, and are thus in the process of re-inventing themselves to offer what others cannot easily do, e.g. stretchability.

There is sustained technology progress in developing better and cheaper TCFs. This report provides a detailed assessment of the existing and emerging technologies including ITO film/glass, various types of metal mesh, silver nanowires, PEDOT, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and so on.

The consumer electronic touch screen market is the primary market driver for TCFs. Here, the trend has long been towards (1) lower resistance, (2) lower cost films, and (3) flexibility. The first is to enable larger sizes without compromising response time, the second to stay competitive in the consumer electronics industry, and the third to enable flexible displays and other touch surfaces. These long-standing trends continue to shape the technology and market development for TCFs.

All the same, new market opportunities are emerging. Touch surfaces are growing ultra large in the form of whiteboards, tablets, and other large-sized interactive surfaces. Automotive displays are also on rapid rise, creating new demand but also new requirements. Here, the displays will be large (e.g., 7inchs or higher), whilst automotive OEMs will follow the trends in consumer electronics to offer new form factors.