Printed Electronics Market To Reach USD 42.4 Billion by 2030

The global printed electronics market is expected to witness a CAGR of 18.5% during the forecast period, to reach USD 42.4 billion by 2030. This can be due to the increasing need for inkjet and screen printers for photovoltaic and display applications in several countries, including Germany, the U.S., China, the U.A.E., and Brazil; the surging demand for printed electronic products in several industries; the growing consumer electronics industry; and significant cost advantages offered by printed electronics.

Shift from Traditional Printers to Digital Printers

One of the key trends observed in the market is the shift from traditional printers to digital printers and this leads to significant growth in the electronics industry across the world.

Traditional printers employ heavy metals like cadmium, lead, chromium, and mercury, which pollute water and soil when they reach water bodies and landfills and have a negative influence on the environment. They also use products based on volatile organic compounds like aerosol sprays and paint strippers. Whereas, digital printers use gentler solvents and fewer dangerous chemicals. Thus, the market is seeing an increase in the demand for digital solutions, due to the increased emphasis on environmentally friendly printing and efficient production solutions.

Additionally, due to the advantageous sensing, data storage, and transmission characteristics, printed electronics are becoming more and more popular among consumers in wearable technology, smart packaging, medical devices, and smart fashion. Hence, the increasing use of smart and connected devices is fueling the industry expansion.

Automotive & Transportation Dominates the Market

The automotive and transportation category accounts for the largest market share. This is due to the increasing use of IoT in automotive applications, which require high data processing capacity and high bandwidth to support networks and data types for connected devices requiring remote sensing and collection.

Moreover, intelligent automotive technology is gaining momentum in the automotive industry, and printed electronics-based vehicle sensors and transceivers are used to connect vehicles and smartphones to provide features like music players and chair earphones, among others, all the time. Thus, with the increasing sales of connected automobiles, the demand for printed electronics is rising.

Based on material component, the inks category is expected to witness faster growth in the coming years. This can be due to the surging use of metal-based inks in the fabrication of printed electronic circuits for various applications such as displays, PVs, and RFID tags. Moreover, these ink printers enable printing electronics without direct contact, offer high resolution, and work well with different materials. Also, there is a wide range of functions, including conductive and dielectric inks, making them suitable for various applications like printed sensors, OLED displays, and printed circuit boards (PCBs).

APAC Is the Market Leader

The APAC printed electronics market is estimated to have generated the highest revenue in 2023, and it is also expected to witness the fastest growth between 2024 and 2030. This is ascribed to the surging demand for flexible and robust substrates for printed electronic circuits, the increasing penetration of IoT technology, low manufacturing cost, constant evolution in digital printing technology, and the growing end-use industries in the region.

The key players operating in the market include E INK HOLDINGS INC., Ynvisible Interactive Inc., Nissha Co. Ltd., Xerox Corporation, Agfa-Gevaert N.V., DuPont de Nemours Inc., Molex LLC, NovaCentrix Corp., BASF SE, and Palo Alto Research Center LLC.