Research Articles

IDTechEx's new report "Autonomous Cars, Robotaxis and Sensors 2024-2044" shows that autonomous cars are slowly, but very surely, becoming a part of everyday life. Although they have been hyped and overpromised for a long time, in the last couple of years, the industry has accomplished some significant milestones. The US and China both now have a handful of cities allowing commercial robotaxi services from industry leaders such as Cruise, Waymo, Baidu, AutoX, and more.

For thousands of years, people have relied on and continue to rely on their vision to assess their surroundings. They evaluate objects and apply pre-conceived hypotheses based on what they see, and they do this daily.

Tuesday 7 November 2023 - Electrification in Cars and Beyond: What's Happened and What to Expect - The automotive market - key technology trends and technology companies becoming involved in electric cars; Electric and fuel cell trucks; Air taxis (eVTOL); An overview of electrification across vans, trucks, buses, 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, microcars, construction vehicles, trains, boats, and ships

As reported by Nvidia's Q2 financial statement, its second-quarter data center's revenue was a record US$10.32 billion, up 141% from the previous quarter and up 171% from a year ago. With the increasing demand for high-performance servers in data centers, IDTechEx has seen challenges in data center thermal management and tremendous opportunities in this industry.

IDTechEx forecast the Li-ion battery market for electric vehicles to reach US$380 billion by 2034. With this huge increase in value, the safe and reliable operation of these (sometimes combustible) assets while maximizing the performance extracted from them becomes critical. The battery management system (BMS) plays a central role in the safe and reliable operation of Li-ion batteries but is somewhat overlooked with regard to its potential for also moving battery performance forward.

As the energy and industrial landscapes experience transformative shifts, the hydrogen economy stands at the threshold of sustainable growth. The envisioned hydrogen value chain will integrate production, storage, and distribution systems, supporting a wide array of applications that span industrial processes to various transportation sectors.

Thursday 19 October 2023 - Introduction to and working principles of redox flow batteries; Energy and power decoupling explained; Levelized cost of storage (LCOS) vs. Li-ion; Introduction to RFB chemistry benchmarking; Current and future market applications of RFBs; discussion on long duration energy storage; Membranes used in redox flow batteries and introduction to other components; Overview of market analysis and recent RFB installations made by key players; IDTechEx's outlook and conclusions

Gas sensor technology makes the invisible, visible. A plethora of different technology types can be used to measure analytes related to safety and health - quantifying the composition of air quality inside and out

Thursday 12 October - An introduction to EMI shielding for electronics, including the transition from board/enclosure level shielding to package level shielding; How trends in semiconductor packaging such as heterogeneous integration will affect EMI shielding requirements and demand for novel deposition capabilities; Emerging materials for EMI shielding, including particle-free (molecular) conductive inks and MXenes

Over the last decade, redox flow battery (RFB) deployments have been sporadic and few compared to ever-growing Li-ion battery deployments for stationary energy storage applications. However, as the penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources into electricity grids increases globally, so will the need to manage more uncertain and variable electricity supply.

Wednesday 11 October 2023 - Solid-State Batteries - Technologies, Challenges, Breakthroughs, and Beyond: Solid-state battery definition and fundamental concept; Value propositions; Potential for enhanced safety, energy density and performance; Technology types, challenges, improvements; Application and commercialization

The road to fully autonomous vehicles is, by necessity, a long and winding one; systems that implement new technologies that increase the driving level of vehicles (driving levels being discussed further below) must be rigorously tested for safety and longevity before they can make it to vehicles that are bound for public streets.

2022 saw the aerogels market take a large leap forward with the success of electric vehicle (EV) batteries as an application. Historic growth has been steady for other applications, but with the growth fuelled by the EV market, there is the opportunity for several other applications to take advantage of the scaling production volume.

It is no secret that electronic devices are becoming increasingly compact, with greater functionality contained in smaller volumes. As such, increasing efforts are being made to mount integrated circuits (ICs) and other components such as antennas closer together, sometimes within the same semiconductor package.

Wednesday 4 October 2023 - Discuss the key components of a PEM fuel cell including their form and function within the fuel cell system; Provide information on emerging technological innovation for each of the major components, both in terms of materials and manufacturing; Outline key technology trends driven by external factors such as sustainability; Overview the PEM fuel cell market within the context of the broader fuel cell electric vehicle market

Thursday 5 October 2023 - Introduction to automotive displays - how we got here; Display technologies - from incumbent technology to future display technologies; Display types - from how they are currently presented to how they will look; A holistic approach to displays - from the display technology to the key additional components that ensure the display's optimal performance

The global quantum dot (QD) material market is projected to reach US$550 million by 2034. However, this remarkable figure merely scratches the surface of the potential magnitude the market of their enabled products is set to attain, especially in one of QD's potential application markets: displays.

Tuesday 10 October 2023 - Mobile Robotics in Logistics - Over 20-fold Revenue Increase in the Next Two Decades; An overview of mobile robots and a breakdown of different types of mobile robots used in logistics; Exploring the reasons behind the rapid growth of mobile robots in logistics and the benefits they offer to various industries; Discussion of the fundamental technologies and components that empower mobile robot systems; Analyzing the present state of the market, including noteworthy developments such as acquisitions and new product launches by industry leaders; Delving into the obstacles and regulatory considerations that mobile robots face, along with a timeline for addressing these challenges; Providing an overview of IDTechEx's independent forecast for the future of mobile robots in the logistics sector.

In 2023, almost every VR device uses LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) to replace the real world with digital content, but a shift might be underway in 2024. Apple's Vision Pro is set to be one of the earliest VR devices to use OLED-on-Si technology, also known as micro-OLED, in a move to shrink headsets down whilst offering extremely high-quality images.

Thursday 28 September 2023 - Recent developments to Li-ion batteries for EVs; Trends in EV Li-ion chemistry; Li-ion pack technology developments; Innovation in battery management systems; EV markets beyond cars and trends in Li-ion batteries for different EV segments

Tuesday 3 October 2023 - Define the white biotechnology and its scope, versus other "colors" of biotechnology; Discuss several technology trends impacting white biotechnology; Highlight some of the biggest innovations taking place in white biotechnology; Analyze major market activity by leading and emerging players in white biotechnology; Present a 10-year market outlook for white biotechnology

Electrification in the US is at an earlier stage than other regions globally but has made huge progress over the last few years, with electric cars making up nearly 9% of new registrations in the first half of 2023. The pickup truck is a large portion of the US passenger vehicle market but is at an even earlier stage of electrification, with only approximately 5% of electric vehicles sold in the US in the first half of 2023 being pickup trucks.

Mobile robots have experienced substantial growth in the last decade due to their autonomous mobility, which has been propelled by advancements in robotics technology, autonomous navigation, and artificial intelligence. IDTechEx's market research report, titled "Mobile Robotics in Logistics, Warehousing, and Delivery 2024-2044", delves into the technical, regulatory, and market aspects influencing the emerging logistics mobile robot industry.

Bumping technologies for advanced semiconductor packaging have evolved significantly to address the challenges posed by shrinking contact pitches and the limitations associated with conventional flip-chip soldering. One prominent advancement in this field is the 3D Cu-Cu Hybrid Bonding technology, which offers a transformative solution. IDTechEx have been closely monitoring the advancements in 2.5D and 3D advanced semiconductor packaging.

Wednesday 27 September 2023 - AI capabilities, and why these matter; Market revenue forecasts for AI chips at the edge up to and including 2034; Analyses relating to multiple key industry verticals, such as consumer electronics and automotive; Discussion of trends within these industry verticals.

The advancement of biotechnology is critical to expanding both the bioeconomy, where society uses renewable biological resources to create biobased products and the circular economy. Of the numerous colors of the biotechnology spectrum, in which different colors refer to different applications for biotechnology, white biotechnology stands out as a key technology enabler for the bioeconomy by advancing the industrial production of biobased products through biological systems.

The promise of autonomous vehicles has been a long time coming. While many are still waiting to see the fruits of all this work, there are some cities like Arizona and San Francisco where autonomous cars are starting to become a reality.

Thursday 21 September 2023 - Seeing Is Believing: Exploring the Future of XR Display Technology - An introduction to how XR device types affect display requirements; Discussion of recent innovations in the XR display industry and their potential impacts on the future of XR devices; The bottlenecks and technology gaps holding back XR display development, with potential solutions identified; A roadmap for the development of the industry, with key player technologies highlighted

Can digital and/or high throughput manufacturing be applied to circuit boards? Can stretchable electronics be produced without sacrificing processing capabilities? Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) is an emerging manufacturing methodology that aims to resolve both of these questions.

New quantum sensors measuring brain activity have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of how humans respond to sleep, movement, diet, and aging.

Wednesday 20 September 2023 - Drivers behind the greater fire safety focus in EVs; Battery design and evolution impacting material selection; Aerogels compared to other fire protection materials; Key players in the aerogel market for EVs and market progress; Outlook for the future of aerogels in EV applications

The world is witnessing an electrifying revolution in the automotive industry. Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a compelling solution to combat climate change and reduce our carbon footprint. As more and more individuals and businesses shift towards electric mobility, the demand for efficient and accessible EV charging infrastructure has skyrocketed.

The current automotive display market is dominated by the TFT-LCD technology, and despite the rise of OLEDs in this sector, it is expected this strong presence will continue. IDTechEx's "Automotive Displays 2024-2034: Technologies, Players, Opportunities" report provides a comprehensive coverage of this display sector, with key trends, market analysis, opportunities, and granular 10-year forecasts for display volume (number of displays) and value (US$), segmenting the industry by display type and technology.

The global market for Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles is forecast to reach over US$380 billion by 2034, driven primarily by demand for battery electric cars but with rapid growth to other sectors too, including electric vans, trucks, buses, 2-wheelers, and off-road vehicles. Electrification and emissions targets, improving battery performance, and an increasingly attractive total cost of ownership for some vehicle segments are driving this growth in demand for battery electric vehicles (EV).

Thursday 14 September 2023 - Introduction to quantum dots and wavelength tuning approaches; Material options; QD modes of operation; QDs for display applications: unique features, various adoption approaches, introduction, manufacturing techniques, current status and trends; QDs for image sensor applications: Introduction, types, value propositions and trends; Market landscape

Managing the sustainability of Li-ion batteries at end-of-life (EOL) will continue to become increasingly important as the demand for Li-ion batteries continues to grow in sectors such as electric vehicles, stationary energy storage, and consumer electronics.