Flexible and printed electronics are an excellent opportunity for applications that can change our lives. The interest in hybrid electronics, merging the advantages of silicon-based technologies with printing and other low-cost manufacturing processes, is helping to bring these new products closer to the mainstream. 
 
Sensors are one of the areas where flexible hybrid electronics are making inroads. Glucose strips were an early market success, but sensors are now finding opportunities in more commercial and industrial areas, from medical, automotive and aerospace to cosmetics and packaging and much more. Manufacturers such as L’Oreal, General Electric and Boeing are using flexible electronics in their products.
 
“I would say there’s tremendous growth in both the number and diversity of applications for sensors – there are many applications in monitoring all sorts of things,” said Malcolm Thompson, executive director of NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Institute. 
 
The Internet of Things will eventually require billions of sensors, as monitoring temperature, humidity and other characteristics for perishable items such as food, pharmaceuticals, flowers and other goods ensures good quality and product authenticity. These sensors are becoming more prominent as well, with RFID a key technology there. Wearables are another area where flexible and printed electronics technology is making gains.
 
“The sheer diversity of sensor applications is staggering,” Thompson added. “They must be inexpensive so they can be produced in large numbers, and they’re designed to be consumable – they essentially biodegrade, and then you start again, which makes for a great business model. Basically, the potential applications for sensors are practically limitless.”

Among other commercial products that have used flexible and printed electronics solutions during the past year are wines and spirits, including Barbadillo and Astral Lights, which are communicating to customers through near-field communication.

Smart packaging ultimately will benefit from flexible and printed electronics. Roy Bjorlin, global commercial and strategic initiatives director, Electronics Materials, Sun Chemical, sees smart packaging as a way for brand owners and consumers to communicate, whether it is product information, coupons, games or other programs.
 
“We are now more connected digitally across the globe than we have ever been before through social media, mobile devices, wearables and more,” said Bjorlin. “Smart packaging can change the way retailers, brand owners and consumers interact with products by communicating, engaging customers, managing inventory systems and much more.”
 
On the display front, inkjet printing of quantum dot displays is coming closer to reality, with DIC Corporation and Nanosys showing their collaboration at the upcoming CES 2018. OLED is an area that has long been seen as an opportunity for mass production (mobile phone antennas are already being printed). For example, Universal Display is investing $15 million in PPG’s Barberton, OH manufacturing facility, with an eye on to doubling commercial production of its UniversalPHOLED phosphorescent emitter products. Heliatek, a specialist in organic photovoltics, is among the companies that has expanded its manufacturing operations during the past year.
 
Consolidation in the Industry
 
While there were the usual investments made into new companies, the flexible and printed electronics industry was relatively quiet on the merger and acquisition front. Perhaps the most noteworthy news was Nissha USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissha Co., Ltd., announcing that its subsidiary Si-Cal Technologies, Inc. acquired the printed electronics business of GSI Technologies, LLC. GSI was an early leader in printing medical systems, including glucose strips.
   
On a much larger scale, Thales and Gemalto announced in December 2016 that they have reached an agreement on a recommended all-cash offer by Thales for Gemalto, at a price of €51 per share or approximately $5.6 billion, with an eye on the emerging digital security business.
 
“The acquisition of Gemalto marks a key milestone in the implementation of Thales’s strategy,” Patrice Caine, Thales’s chairman and CEO, said. “By combining our talents, Thales and Gemalto are creating a global leader in digital security.”
 
Flex made a move in the automotive market, acquiring AGM Automotive, a vehicle interior specialist. This allows Flex to expand its automotive portfolio. Along those lines, Faurecia, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, put in sizable investments in Canatu, which makes formable touch sensors, as well as TactoTek, which creates injection molded structural electronics (IMSE) products.