E-Textiles 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets and Players

Electronic textiles (e-textiles) involves the combination of electronics and textiles to form "smart" textile products. With research compiled over 6 years, a database of over 200 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 2019 to 2029, this is the most comprehensive study compiled on this technology area.

 

We are in contact with textiles for up to 98% of our lives, and they are starting to become intelligent. Part of this revolution includes the integration of electronics and textiles. The ideas for e-textiles have been around for decades, but with increasing commercial focus in the last 30 years. Today, e-textiles remains a fragmented sector in relative commercial infancy. However, many industry players throughout the value chain are lining up to offer the next generation of smart textile products. 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.

 

In the last few years, IDTechEx has witnessed a developing maturity in the e-textiles value chain. Whilst companies have been able to manufacture and sell e-textiles products for decades, challenges around reliability, cross-compatibility & standards, equipment suitability, materials availability and overhead costs have been prohibitive in many emerging market opportunities. However, thanks to significant investment and partnerships, some of these barriers are being lowered, with more players able to make more advanced e-textile products as less prohibitive prices. These developments improve the chances that emerging e-textile products have against incumbent options in each of the markets they target.

 

The proposed markets for e-textile products are very broad. 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). Each area has a unique mix of requirements, drivers and relevant industry players, so it is critical to understand the detail of the dynamics in each space in order to successfully plan and grow with this industry.

 

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.

 

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 woundcare, 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 hosts leading events covering e-textile technology, and the analyst team travels, speaks 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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