Research Articles

Thursday 27 April 2023 - What is the status and outlook for the wearables industry as a whole? How do the opportunities and challenges vary between wearable sensors and actuators? How is the role of wearables in healthcare evolving? Why wearables for drug-free health management and which technologies have the most commercial potential?

6G is the next generation of wireless technology that promises to go beyond mobile communication and revolutionize how people interact with the world around them. According to IDTechEx's latest 6G research, 6G could be with us in 2028 at the earliest.

IDTechEx's new report "Semiconductors for Autonomous and Electric Vehicles 2023-2033" finds that the coming mass adoption of electric vehicles will drive a 10-year CAGR of 20.9% in semiconductors used for electric powertrains. Along with the rise of more autonomous vehicles, this will drive the overall automotive semiconductor market to a CAGR of 9.4% over the next decade.

Modern technology is largely built upon the back of tiny electrical circuits connected together to form chips. These come in a variety of configurations, and can be found in all kinds of household appliances (from rice cookers to air conditioners), consumer electronics (laptops, smartphones, TVs), and products and services necessary to everyday life in an interconnected world (such as airplanes, trains, and cars).

Wednesday 26 April 2023 - The current state of the industry, including a comprehensive analysis of the NFC and RAIN markets and their medium-term opportunities; The RFID market by regions, key growth drivers for various applications, and the remaining barriers to high-volume RFID adoption; Emerging technologies that could pose a threat to the RFID industry and innovative trends in RFID technologies that can help businesses stay ahead of the competition

Conrad Nicols discusses the latest developments in Second Life Electric Vehicle Batteries. Visit www.IDTechEx.com/SecondLife for more information.

Blue hydrogen production is gaining traction, with announcements of large-scale projects, funding, and government support worldwide. According to IDTechEx's analysis, the blue hydrogen market will be worth US$34 billion by 2033. But which technology will drive most of this capacity and market growth?

Today's rail networks largely consist of electric trains 'tethered' to electric overhead and live rail systems. However, this is not feasible everywhere due to the high infrastructure cost/mile, remote geographic locations, and the practicality of building through tunnels and bridges.

Asia accounts for more than 90% of all global two-wheeler sales, and it is unusual for a family not to own one in some countries. The three largest markets ranked by annual sales are China, India, and Southeast Asia.

Thursday 20 April - The Surging Market for Thermal Interface Materials. This webinar will give a general overview of the TIMs used in EV, Data Center, ASAS, EMI shielding, 5G, and Consumer Electronics. The webinar discusses how TIM properties and demand will change with an analysis of the market trend and industrial news and collaborations.

Creating a circular economy is an essential sustainability target for governments, brands, suppliers, and the public. A key driver is the risks that plastic consumption, which is expected to double globally by 2050, poses to the environment.

Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) come in different forms and thermal conductivities. Typical TIM forms include gap pads, thermal greases, thermally conductive adhesives (TCA), and phase change materials.

Three years after 5G was officially commercialized, while most of the deployments are primarily focused on 5G mid-band, the development of 5G mmWave technology has also been underway. 5G mmWave, operating in high-frequency bands between 24-100 GHz, offers faster data transfer rates, low latency, and higher bandwidth compared to the previous wireless technology.

Thursday 13 April 2023 - This webinar will explore these lessons in depth through discussions on; Market trends across key applications for e-textiles; Manufacturing methods and how materials choice for e-textiles have evolved over the years; Examples from notable relevant companies; A review of the current state of the e-textiles market; Potential opportunities and challenges for the industry

Depending on the technology being talked about, there are already solid-state batteries being commercialized and they could enable a US$8 billion dollar business opportunity in 2033, according to IDTechEx's report "Solid-State and Polymer Batteries 2023-2033: Technology, Forecasts, Players".

Bipolar plates form the backbone of proton exchange fuel cells and consequently capture a significant portion of the fuel cell stack value, with IDTechEx forecasting their market value to exceed US$2.4 bn by 2033.

Asked whether electronics is a 'digital technology', almost everyone would reply in the affirmative. However, while printed circuit boards (PCBs) enable digital technologies, the manufacturing processes used to produce them are still largely analog.

Wearable technology is threatening to disrupt aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, with the latest technology offering a drug-free alternative to health management. But which of these competing wearable technologies are the promising candidates to lead the healthcare revolution?

The RFID business continues to grow. The global RFID market is anticipated to continue to grow in 2023, with IDTechEx projecting a market value of US$14 billion in 2023, up from US$12.8 billion in 2022. This market value comprises of RFID labels, cards, fobs, and other form factors, as well as tags, scanners, and software/services for inactive and active RFID.

As electric vehicle (EV) power electronics undergoes a paradigm shift towards wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, it is clear that silicon carbide (SiC) is becoming the material of choice, while gallium nitride (GaN) is often shoe-boxed into telecommunications or optoelectronics applications.

When thinking of the applications of low-loss materials in 5G devices, the first that comes to mind for most is 5G smartphones. After all, low-loss materials are integral in enabling advanced 5G antennas-in-packages (AiP) for smartphones, and high-profile smartphone manufacturers like Apple have gone back and forth about which low-loss material they chose for their 5G antennas in their flagship phones like the iPhone.

Thermal Interface Material (TIM) plays an important role in power electronics, computing processors, sensors, and energy storage devices. TIMs are the materials used to fill the void between heat sources and heat sinks to enhance heat transfer.

Refractive lenses are an 800-year-old technology that has stood the test of time. Glasses, cameras, and microscopy are all applications that rely on lenses to redirect light by varying the optical path through a curved piece of glass or plastic. However, the underlying architecture of lenses may be about to change.

Thursday 6 April 2023 - What Are the Latest Market Developments? This webinar will cover: Li-ion battery circular economy and second-life EV battery value chain; Regulatory landscape overview; Introduction to technology trends, remanufacturing considerations, and market barriers; Overview of battery testing and modeling approaches; Key repurposing player activity

Electronic skin patches have made remarkable progress in the field of healthcare. These wearable electronic devices feature adhesive pads designed to be worn directly on the skin, enabling convenient and non-invasive monitoring of vital signs and biomarkers.

The clean hydrogen market is poised for growth, driven by decarbonization efforts and concerns around energy security. A number of ambitious targets and roadmaps are being set out by different governments and regions. Clean hydrogen can refer to a number of routes for producing hydrogen, but the primary among them are green and blue hydrogen.

The energy crisis, combined with the ever-pressing need to transition to net zero, is driving innovations within the energy landscape. Technology choices, material choices, and business models are shifting and evolving to meet global energy and consumer demands. IDTechEx offer a market intelligence platform covering technology innovation in the energy sector, aiming to help clients address needs and find opportunities in the complex energy landscape .

Autonomous mobility is the key value proposition for many robots. Thanks to the successes of self-driving systems in commercial vehicles from companies like Tesla and John Deere. Autonomous driving has gained significant momentum across the robotics industry.

A shirt that can track a person's heart rate, a shoe that can measure gait - the integration of electronic components with textiles to form e-textiles has been a significant research interest for several years.

The second-life EV battery market is one of great importance for many reasons. These include adding value to future energy infrastructure, creating a circular economy for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and providing a lower levelized cost of storage compared to new batteries.

Integrating multiple functionalities within a single entity promises simpler, more efficient devices without compromising capability. Smartphones are a great example, with maps, diaries, phones, cameras, games consoles, and more integrated into a single, compact device.

Solid-state battery, one of the most promising next-generation battery technologies, has the potential to reshuffle the global battery supply chain, and a US$8 billion-market-size opportunity is potentially waiting for solid-state batteries, according to IDTechEX's report "Solid-State and Polymer Batteries 2023-2033: Technology, Forecasts, Players".

Thursday 30 March 2023 - Based off the new IDTechEx report, this webinar will cover; Benchmarking of SiC versus GaN and future developments, Materials evolution for power packages and industry pain points, Market demand for SiC and opportunities for GaN, and a market outlook for EV power electronics broken down by voltage

IDTechEx has published a series of articles recently covering hydrogen- and ammonia-powered fuel cell (FC) demand in shipping. One of the most common responses to this has been - what about methanol?

At Tesla's Investor Day in March 2023, it announced that its next generation of electric motors would contain no rare earth materials. Given Tesla's huge presence in the EV (electric vehicle) market, this could prove a significant transition for the design and sustainability of electric motors.

Thursday 23 March 2023 - Developments, Prospect & Challenges. The webinar will cover; Motivation for low-carbon and blue hydrogen production, Overview of blue hydrogen production technologies, Outline of key players, trends, and innovations in technologies, Outlook on blue hydrogen, and Drivers & challenges for the industry