Research Articles

Quantum Computers: What Are They and When Will They Create Commercial Value? In the last decade, the number of companies actively developing quantum computer hardware has quadrupled. In 2022 multiple funding rounds surpassing US$100 million have been closed, and the transition from lab-based toys to commercial products has begun.

The materials industry is sometimes described as conservative, but digital transformation is well underway in the sector. Materials informatics - the application of data-centric approaches, including machine learning, to materials R&D - has the potential to be the most impactful arm of this process.

A complimentary magazine by IDTechEx covering technology trends from 2022 and looking ahead to 2023.

Though 5G mmWave is still in its early stages, the 6G research race has already begun. The sub-THz band (100 - 300 GHz) is the major focus of the first wave of 6G. Several technological breakthroughs are necessary to fully realize the benefits of such a high frequency band in 6G.

Mirroring the broader social trend of increasing awareness around inclusivity, exhibitors at CES 2023 highlighted the capabilities of consumer electronics to deliver assistive technology. IDTechEx attended the event, held January 5 - 8 in Las Vegas, and report on this key trend across interviews with exhibitors over the four days.

Ten years ago, the world was introduced to the first lab-grown burger, and this year, it is possible that American consumers will have the opportunity to taste this revolutionary food for themselves. The end of 2022 saw a major milestone for the industry, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approving a cultured meat product for the first time, a significant step towards commercialization.

The Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Market: Will It Finally Take-off? Recognized as one of the key technologies essential to achieving net-zero emissions targets, the momentum behind carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) deployment is building up. This webinar highlights the findings of the new IDTechEx report, "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Markets 2023-2043", a comprehensive market report on the CCUS industry.

Can electronics manufacturing be reconfigured for our digital, environmentally-conscious age? IDTechEx's new report, "Manufacturing Printed Electronics 2023-2033", explores a wide range of manufacturing innovations that will enable additive, digital, and higher throughput electronics production across many length scales.

Breaking Down the Drivers and Barriers Impacting Low-Loss Materials for 5G. Each year, the global deployment of 5G-enabled devices and infrastructure expands, bringing new and exciting applications to market, like smart devices, autonomous vehicles, and remote medical monitoring. However, the expansion of the 5G network, particularly the higher frequency mmWave bands, is restricted by several challenges.

The Road to More Intelligent Robots? Sensors are crucial for the value proposition behind many intelligent robotic systems. With the increasing demand for robots to handle complicated tasks, the growing adoption of robots, and the decreasing costs of sensors, the market for sensors in robotics is rapidly growing. It is expected to exceed US$80 billion by 2043. This fast growth and the substantial market size are partially driven by the growth of robots in the next two decades as a whole, but also expects sensors to capture an increasing proportion of the total value in robotic systems.

As high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, and even consumers become increasingly data-hungry, hardware struggles to keep pace. In addition, the need for real-time assessments of moving data points - such as for the accurate velocity-mapping of other objects in autonomous systems and facial recognition for security systems - is crucial to an increasingly hands-free society.

Chemical recycling end-of-life plastic has its champions and its critics. IDTechEx does not believe these advanced recycling solutions are the much-promised silver bullet, but nor do they think they have no role to play in a circular economy.

While there is no standardized definition of micro EVs, it is generally used to describe small vehicles that can seamlessly navigate highly populated urban areas. Micro EVs are designed for short trips of only a few kilometers and travel at low speeds, typically under 80 kilometers per hour (with various regional exceptions). These vehicles do not rely on internal combustion engines, and many are powered by electric motors.

Is this the year of rapid graphene sales? Are we slipping deeper into a disillusionment phase? Who will emerge as the market leaders? Is consolidation inevitable? 2023 will be a telling year for the industry.

Friday 20 January 2023 - This webinar is based on IDTechEx's broader mobility research portfolio, tracking the adoption of electric vehicles, battery trends, autonomy, and demand across land, sea, and air. Helping you navigate whatever may be ahead.

IDTechEx have released a brand new report, "Quantum Computers 2023-2043". This report covers the hardware that promises a revolutionary approach to solving the world's unmet challenges.

Thursday 19 January 2023 - What's Beyond 2022? This webinar is based on content from IDTechEx's new report on "Thermal Management for Electric Vehicles 2023-2033". The webinar will cover various market drivers and trends in thermal management for batteries, motors, and power electronics. Focusing on recent developments in the market over the last 1-2 years.

Wednesday 18 January 2023 - What Are the Business Models, Drivers and Barriers? Services provided by batteries for stationary energy storage in FTM and BTM markets; Business models for BSS owners; Technology and market trends; and Market drivers and barriers.

Robots, by definition, are machines with autonomy. Over the past several years, robots have gained significant momentum in a variety of industries, such as logistics and delivery, manufacturing, cleaning and disinfection, and daily services.

While 5G mmWave has yet to take off, 6G research has already begun. But what exactly is 6G, and what are the emerging areas to watch?

What does good look like? Whether trying to predict World Cup results or assess the relative merits of emerging technologies, establishing a meaningful set of performance benchmarks is crucial but challenging.

"Diverse and Developing" - the only way to describe the current breadth of the polymer materials portfolio for additive manufacturing. From materials that vary in form factor (i.e., powders, resins, filaments) to material properties (i.e., flexible, reinforced, tough, etc.) to application (i.e., medical, industrial, dental, etc.), it can be difficult to define suitable enough categories that adequately cover this diverse market.

IDTechEx forecast the Li-ion market to grow to over US$430 billion by 2033, driven by demand for electric vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) remain the key driver behind the Li-ion market, and electric cars will be the largest market for Li-ion batteries over the next ten years.

Each year, the global deployment of 5G-enabled devices and infrastructure expands, with 98 nations having commercialized 5G or conducting 5G trials in 2022, up from 79 nations in 2021.

Roughly one year ago, Tesla announced that it would be dropping radar from Model 3 and Model Y production vehicles starting May 2022. At that time, IDTechEx wrote an article about why dropping radar was a mistake.

Having been largely confined to the realm of academia for many years, metamaterials are now set for commercialization in several major applications.

Thermal management continues to be a key topic for electric vehicle (EV) battery design. Early trends in the market largely revolved around the adoption of active cooling for the battery pack, and now this is the industry standard.

Collaborative robots, also commonly known as cobots, refer to robots that work side-by-side with human operators. Unlike industrial robots that are separated from human operators, cobots share the same working space as humans. As a relatively new definition, cooperative robots sound like collaborative robots but represents a different nature of the operation.

Thermal management is critical in several industries, and the trends in emerging technologies are driving material innovation. Electronics in markets from personal devices through to cars are seeing increased integration, densification, and hence an increased focus on thermal management.

Thursday 15 December 2022 - Discussion of the incentives and opportunities of embracing sustainable electronics manufacturing; Additive manufacturing approaches for printed circuit boards; Novel approaches to manufacturing integrated circuits; What are key players doing to improve sustainability?; Roadmaps for the adoption of sustainable materials and processes

How can advanced functional materials such as conductive inks be developed more quickly? Anyone who has spent time in a laboratory knows that material development can be a laborious process.

They may not be ubiquitous yet, and the day-to-day advantages that they will start to provide may not be noticeable, but automated technologies across the automotive industry are starting to come of age.

A new wave of electronics manufacturing is on the horizon, aiming to satisfy the increasing demand for sustainability and mitigate the impact of volatile energy prices. With the electronics industry accounting for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it requires substantial innovation to reduce its environmental footprint.

It is becoming prosaic to say there is no 'silver bullet' for marine decarbonization. But it might be fitting to say 'multiple silver bullets' are emerging since between batteries, fuel cells (FC), green hydrogen, green ammonia, e-methane and carbon capture, decarbonization across all marine subsegments might just be possible.

Chemical recycling of plastic waste is gaining momentum. Headlines on investments, planned expansions, and real-world product launches are all accelerating in frequency and scale.

5G has two new frequency bands: sub-6 GHz (3.5 - 7 GHz) and mmWave (24 - 100 GHz). 5G sub-6 GHz, with a frequency relatively close to the 4G frequency range, is a popular choice because it finds a balance between providing excellent data throughput and being reasonably priced.