Press Release

New strategy for printed electronics

It is now generally accepted that printed electronics is headed to be a business of the order of $300 billion yearly in about twenty years time. A number of large companies realise that this creates the opportunity to create ten billion dollar activities and some of these are finding the determination and funding to get there.

Pull through marketing helps. This is where a company at the beginning of the value chain gets involved in making finished devices in order to create a new market more quickly, thus bringing forward the need for the specialist materials required. For example, the world's largest chemical company, the Euros 57 billion BASF, making organic semiconductors and dielectrics has invested in Heliatek which is developing organic photovoltaics. Previously, organic photovoltaics had an annoying habit of being destroyed by the sun, making it analogous to a chocolate frying pan.

To maximise sales, the most ambitious putative suppliers to the emerging printed electronics sector must not box themselves into a corner. For example, the majority of the materials expenditure for printed electronics concerns inorganic materials and a rapidly growing number of printed electronic devices employ composites. Those seeking to be biggest in the business cannot therefore stick to purely organic chemistry.

It is therefore interesting that the largest chemical company in the USA, the $54 billion Dow Chemical has just bought the $8.7 billion Rohm and Haas materials business for a heady $15 billion - this adds a huge capability in inorganic, not just organic electronic materials to Dow Chemical. In the new electronics, Dow was previously best known for organic materials such as those it sold to Sumitomo Chemical as IP.

In 2006, Merck KGaA, a leader in organic dielectric, conducting and semiconducting inks, signed a five year agreement with the Technical University of Darmstadt to establish a jointly operated research laboratory to research novel inorganic composite materials that could be suitable for use as printable components in high-performance electronic applications. The initial area of focus is printable transistor circuits based on inorganic materials for use in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Series production is the objective. Then we have DuPont and Honeywell that have been heavily involved in both organic and inorganic electronic materials for some time.

The strategic options for those seeking a multi-billion dollar business in printed electronics do not end there, however. Although it is usually considered imprudent to make devices if you make materials, because you end up competing with your customers, some are finding this a manageable option. For example, one may make one type of device while selling materials for others.

Consider Bayer, the world's oldest chemical and pharmaceutical company, with highly profitable sales of Euros 32.4 billion. When it sold its HC Starck subsidiary that makes conductive organic inks, some felt it was leaving the printed electronics business.

However, Bayer electroluminescent polycarbonate film for lighting and displays has been developed by collaboration with Lumitec and it is marketed by two year old Bayer subsidiary Lyttron Technology. Bayer makes the Makrofol™ polycarbonate film that is used.