Printed Sensor Technology: Evolving to Meet New Market Demands, Reports IDTechEx

Author: Dr Jack Howley, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx

Sensors are vital in modern life. They measure a vast quantity of metrics and parameters, acting as the interface between the physical and digital worlds. Printed sensors can be produced in large areas on flexible substrates, reducing costs and unlocking new market opportunities. The new IDTechEx report, “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2024-2034: Technologies, Players, Markets”, breaks down key trends by technology approach – highlighting both opportunities and challenges for the industry forecast to reach US$960 million by 2034.

Printed and flexible sensors can measure a plethora of properties, including touch, force, pressure, displacement, temperature, electrical signals, and gas concentration. One of the earliest and now most ubiquitous printed sensor technologies is printed force sensors, which are used in cars for seat occupancy detection. Yet printed sensors can offer value in a variety of commercial sectors such as healthcare, wearables, consumer electronics, industry, and logistics.

IDTechEx predicts that while force sensors are anticipated to continue dominating revenue share, other printed and flexible sensor technology markets are poised for growth over the next decade. For example, printed sensors are seeing early adoption in consumer electronic devices, from laptops to power tools. Moreover, prominent emerging automotive applications include battery health monitoring and human-machine interfaces. Printed sensor innovation is also now evolving to meet the market demand for multi-functionality. As such, hybrid printed sensor technologies pose a disruptive new threat to existing sensor industries, in addition to unlocking wholly new and novel use cases.

Printed sensor annual revenue, segmented by technology, 2024–2034. Source: IDTechEx
Printed sensor annual revenue, segmented by technology, 2024–2034. Source: IDTechEx

The printed and flexible sensor market report critically evaluates 8 printed sensor technologies, covering printed piezoresistive sensors and force sensors (FSRs), piezoelectric sensors, photodetectors, temperature sensors, strain sensors, gas sensors, capacitive touch sensors, and wearable electrodes. The report also discusses areas of innovation in manufacturing printed sensors, including a focus on emerging material options as well as the technology underlying the manufacturing processes. This report characterizes each application of printed sensors, discussing the relevant technology, product types, competitive landscape, industry players, pricing, as well as key meta-trends and drivers for each sector. The report also contains detailed printed and flexible sensors market forecasting over 10 years for each key printed sensor technology area.

The research behind the report has been compiled over many years by IDTechEx analysts. It builds on existing expertise in areas such as sensors, wearable technology, flexible electronics, stretchable and conformal electronics, smart packaging, conductive inks, nanotechnology, future mobility, and electronic textiles (e-textiles). The methodology involved a mixture of primary and secondary research, with a key focus on speaking to executives, engineers, and scientists from companies developing printed and flexible sensors. As such, the report analyses all known major companies and projects, including over 30 profiles.

Unique position and experience behind the report

IDTechEx is afforded a particularly unique position in covering this topic. The analyst team builds on decades of experience covering emerging technology markets, particularly areas such as printed electronics, which are central to printed and flexible sensors. This has been historically supported by IDTechEx’s parallel activities in organizing the leading industry conferences and exhibitions covering printed, flexible, and wearable electronics. IDTechEx has the unique ability to curate a network in these topic areas, facilitating the analysis in this report.

This report provides critical market intelligence about the 8 printed sensor technology areas involved. This includes:

A review of the context and technology behind printed and flexible sensors:

History and context for each technology area
General overview of important technologies and materials
Overall look at printed and flexible sensor trends and themes within each technology area
Benchmarking and analysis of different players throughout

Full market characterization for each printed sensor technology:

Review of key sectors where printed sensor technologies are established
Discussion and insight into emerging and future applications of printed and flexible sensors, including the meta trends and market drivers for their growth
Critical market evaluation using case studies featuring commercial successes and failures of printed sensors

Market analysis throughout:

Reviews of printed sensor players throughout each key sector, analyzed from over 30 companies
Market forecasts from 2024-2034 for 8 printed sensor technology areas, including full narrative, limitations, and methodologies for each

To find out more about the new IDTechEx report “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2024-2034: Technologies, Players, Markets”, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/FlexSensors.

For the full portfolio of printed & flexible electronics research available from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/PE.