Organic Electronics Market: Displays to Remain Dominant Application Segment

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

The global organic electronics market is dominated by companies such as BASF, H.C. Starck, Evonik, Sumitomo, Fujifilm Dimatix Inc., and AGC Seimi Chemical Co. Ltd. The immense promise shown by the organic electronics industry has led to significant investment from the key established electronics companies in the last few years. According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), well-funded product development efforts are the key strategy for players in the organic electronics market to pursue over the coming years. Collaboration to acquire new technological features is another trend likely to remain popular in the coming years. 

According to Transparency Market Research, the global organic electronics market was valuated at US$8.2 bn in 2012. It is likely to rise to a valuation of US$28.9 bn by the end of 2016 and further rise to US$44.8 bn by the end of 2018. The promising growth prospects of the market is illustrated by its formidable expected CAGR of 32.6% between 2012 and 2018. 

Application of Organic Electronics in Logic and Memory Set to Rise Rapidly 

By application, the global organic electronics market is segmented into displays, batteries, lighting, sensors, organic photovoltaics, RFID, and logic and memory. Of these, displays are likely to retain their dominant share in the global organic electronics market over the forecast period, exhibiting growth at a sturdy CAGR of 25.60% from 2012 to 2018. However, despite its dominance, the share of the displays application segment in the global organic electronics market is likely to drop from more than 50% in 2012 to less than 40% by the end of 2018. 

“On the other hand, the application of organic electronics in logic and memory applications is expected to rise rapidly in the coming years,” states TMR’s lead analyst. Due to the rising use of smart devices, the demand for memory solutions is likely to grow steadily in the coming years. As a result, the logic and memory segment is expected to exhibit a stunning CAGR of 140.2% from 2012 to 2018.

 Geographically, Asia Pacific is the leading contributor to the global organic electronics industry and is likely to retain its position through the forecast period. This is mainly due to the booming consumer electronics industry in countries such as China, India, South Korea, and Japan, which will ensure steady demand for organic electronics in the coming years thanks to the vast consumer base available in the highly populous region. 

Rising Demand for OLED Smartphones, TVs Vital for Organic Electronics Industry 

The popularity of OLED displays in the consumer electronics industry has grown steadily over the years. The booming demand for smartphones in Asia Pacific is thus vital for the organic electronics industry. The slow but sure growth of the OLED TVs market in recent years has also boosted the organic electronics industry immensely. The OLED TV market is likely to become a key contributor to the global organic electronics industry in the coming years, as OLED technology becomes more common.  

The rising public and government support for environmentally viable technologies is another key driver for the organic electronics market. Organic electronics are designed to reduce the amount of environmental damage caused by the production of electronic components, and are thus receiving significant support, particularly in developed countries. 

Organic Electronics Industry Restrained by Declining Prices of Competing Technologies 

The key restraints acting on the global organic electronics market are the high manufacturing costs of organic electronics and the steady drop in the prices of other display technologies. Despite the financial advantages handed to the organic electronics industry by the supportive regulatory frameworks in many countries, the manufacturing costs of organic electronics still remain high. 

Moreover, this problem has been compounded in recent years by the drop in the prices of competing display technologies such as LCD. Due to the earlier introduction of LED and LCD displays, they still hold the dominant share among display technologies, and thus have now achieved a promising economy of scale. This is likely to remain a key constraint on the organic electronics market significantly in the coming years.