E-Textiles 2021-2031: Tecnologie, mercati e giocatori

Electronic textiles (e-textiles) involves the combination of electronics and textiles to form "smart" textile products. With research compiled over 8 years, a database of 224 companies in the sector, primary research on activities over 100 companies, coverage of each major product type, market and application that has been discussed and deployed, historic data back to 2010 and forecasts from 2021 to 2031, this is the most comprehensive study compiled on this technology area.

 

We are in contact with textiles for 98% of our lives, and they are starting to become intelligent. Part of this revolution includes the integration of electronics and textiles. Such is the core mantra and drive behind those developing and commercialising products which rely on fundamental e-textile technologies. This report aims to contextualise this narrative; the concept and core features of the e-textiles technology movement has been around for decades, with increasing commercial focus in the last 30 years. Some e-textile products such as heated blankets and heated clothing have developed throughout this time to become significant commercial markets selling millions of products each year. However, the variety of products is extremely broad; from clothing to bandages, bed linen to industrial fabrics, new products are appearing throughout a variety of verticals as this technology area is increasingly explored.

 

 

 

This report covers the entire e-textiles value chain, covering the wide range of materials (including metals, polymers, fibres, yarns, textiles (knitted, woven, embroidered, non-woven) and emerging materials) and components (sensors, connectors and the interface to traditional electronics, etc.) used today. It also presents a roadmap for the future, summarising academic and early prototyping work in areas such as new conductive fibres, stretchable electronics, energy harvesting, energy storage, logic and memory, into a set of 30 examples in order to suggest future potential.

 

However, there remains a significant gulf in commercial maturity for different products within e-textiles. For example, heated clothing has a mature value chain with established manufacturing practices and products being sold around the world under hundreds of different brands. Other areas such as the integration of power and data lines into textiles for light-weighting (e.g. in PPE or for soldiers), textile lighting and biometric monitoring have all seen a developing maturity in the value chain over the last decade. Challenges around reliability, cross-compatibility & standards, equipment suitability, materials availability and overheads costs have previously been prohibitive to commercial development of many different product types. However, thanks to significant investments and partnerships, some of these barriers are being lowered, with more players able to make more advanced e-textile products at less prohibitive prices. These developments improve the chances that emerging e-textile products have against incumbent options in each of the markets they target.

 

Across the whole spectrum of e-textile products, the number of proposed application areas and market sectors is extremely broad, albeit with hugely varied commercial maturity. The field of e-textiles is primarily a technology discipline, so translating these new technologies being developed through to successful commercial products requires targeted development which focuses on the specific and often varied needs in the different target markets. The report describes efforts across a series of key market sectors (including medical & healthcare, sports & fitness, military & space, enterprise, PPE & other workwear, fashion, heated clothing, home e-textiles, etc.), as well as other specific product types or groups that span different potential application areas (such as animal wearables, automotive interiors, motion capture, haptic suits and assistive clothing).

 

The big picture for e-textiles is extremely promising. There is an unquestionable potential when combining the comfort, feel and look of textiles with the functionality, connectivity and intelligence of electronics, and these broad-brush industry sectors give only part of the picture. E-textile products are being explored in many exciting niches, from body motion capture, to prevention of multi-billion dollar diseases and side effects, to improving road safety, and many more. Many such areas are discussed in the report, including the latest activities from the most relevant players. The overarching challenge that remains throughout is matching the technology development to specific market needs.

 

With continuous parallel research across the emerging technology ecosystem (including reports on conductive inks, stretchable electronics, wearable technology, printed electronics, printed and flexible sensors, the Internet of Things, emerging energy storage, advanced wound care, healthcare & life sciences, and many more) IDTechEx has leveraged a broad network and experience across the team of expert analysts for this research. On top of this, IDTechEx has hosted many prominent industry events covering e-textile technology, and the analyst team travels, interviews, and meets companies globally each year. The result of these efforts enables this report to be the most comprehensive characterisation of the e-textiles industry today, and an excellent resource for any player involved or actively investigating this space.

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