Summary
“Flexible electronics” is an idea that has been with us for a while, but is only now beginning to inch towards reality. The concept of displays that can be rolled up and put in a pocket, or solar and lighting panels that conform to contours of a building fabric are attractive ideas, both from aesthetic and practical standpoints. But they will require flexible substrates and while a large share of the flexible electronics and solar panel market will be supported on plastic substrates, NanoMarkets believes that a substantial share of flexible substrate market will be garnered by “flexible glass.” In addition, we believe that flexible glass has an important role to play in the flexible encapsulation business. Flexible glass brings to the market the familiarity, transparency, rigidity, thermal stability and scratch resistance that conventional plastics cannot offer.
With all this in mind, NanoMarkets is publishing this report analyzing the market for flexible glass over the next eight years. This report examines the flexible glass products currently on the market and where they are likely to generate new revenues. It also discusses where the next wave of flexible glass and similar products will be coming from and what sectors of the display and solar panel industry will be most likely to make use of flexible glass for both substrates and encapsulation. As with all NanoMarkets reports, this report includes an eight-year market forecast with breakouts by types of materials and specific applications.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
E.1 Summary of the Market Opportunities for Flexible Glass
E.1.1 Intrinsically Flexible Displays
E.1.2 Flexible Photovoltaics
E.1.3 OLED Lighting
E.1.4 Other Specific Product Applications for Flexible Glass: Sensors, Biochips and Touch Screens
E.1.5 Lightweight Displays and PV
E.1.6 Flexible Encapsulation
E.1.7 R2R
E.2 Challenges to the Future of Flexible Glass
E.2.1 Niches Where Flexible Glass Can Compete With Plastic
E.2.2 Flexible Glass and Its Non-Plastic Competitors
E.3 Summary of the Eight-Year Projections of Flexible Glass Markets
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Background to this Report
1.1.1 The Value of Flexible Glass
1.1.2 Glass, Weight and R2R in the Display Industry
1.1.3 A Parallel Market in the PV Sector
1.1.4 Flexible Glass and Intrinsically Flexible Products
1.1.5 Flexible Glass versus the Rest
1.2 Objective and Scope of this Report
1.3 Methodology of this Report
1.4 Plan of this Report
Chapter Two: Flexible Glass: Suppliers, Technology and Products
2.1 Current Flexible Glass Products, Technologies and Supply Structure
2.1.1 AGC/Asahi Glass
2.1.2 Corning
2.1.3 LiSEC
2.1.4 Nippon Electric Glass
2.1.5 Schott
2.1.6 Tokyo Electron (TEL)
2.1.7 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and CalTech
2.1.8 Likely Market Entrants: From China with Glass?
2.4 Flexible Glass Versus Other Flexible Substrates
2.4.1 "Pseudo-Flexible" Glass (Ceramic/Polymer Mixes)
2.4.2 Plastics
2.4.3 Metal Foil and Sheets
2.4.4 Flexible Silicon
2.5 Flexible Glass and Encapsulation
2.6 Manufacturing Flexible Glass: Trends and Challenges
2.6.1 Potential Requirement for Special Coatings
2.7 Key Points from this Chapter
Chapter Three: Markets for Flexible Glass: Current and Future
3.1 Flexible Glass: Beyond R2R Processes
3.2 E-Readers and E-Paper: Possible Roles for Flexible Glass
3.2.1 Flexibility in E-Paper Displays
3.3 Cell Phones and Slate/Laptop Computers
3.3.1 An AMLCD Display on Flexible Glass
3.3.2 Flexible Glass and Rollable/Foldable Displays
3.4 Flexible Glass in Touch Panels
3.5 Flexible Glass and the Future of Solar Panels
3.5.1 Glass in the PV Industry
3.5.2 Flexible Substrates in PV
3.5.3 A Note on CIGS
3.5.4 The Lure of the OPV/DSC Market: Is It Worth a Look for Flexible Glass Makers?
3.5.5 Is Flexible BIPV a Market Opportunity for Flexible Glass?
3.5.6 Flexible Glass as a PV Encapsulant
3.5.7 The Down Side of Flexible Glass in the PV Space
3.6 Flexible Glass for OLED Lighting
3.7 Flexible Glass in Large-Area and Low-Weight Sensors
3.8 Other Markets and Applications Concepts for Flexible Glass
3.8.1 Flexible Batteries
3.8.2 Chip Packages
3.8.3 Wearable Displays
3.9 Key Points from this Chapter
Chapter Four: Eight-Year Forecasts of Flexible Glass Markets
4.1 Forecasting and Research Methodology
4.1.1 Scope of Forecast
4.1.2 Data Sources for the Forecast and for the Report
4.1.3 Demand, Economic and Policy Issues
4.1.4 Alternative Scenarios and Other Factors Taken Into Consideration
4.2 Eight-Year Forecast by Application/End-User Market
4.2.1 Display Markets
4.2.2 Photovoltaics Market
4.2.3 OLED Lighting
4.2.4 Large-Area Sensors
4.3 Eight-Year Forecast by Type of Application (Displays, PV, etc.)
4.4 Eight-Year Forecast by Type of Functionality (Intrinsically Flexible, R2R, etc.)
Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in this Report
About the Author
List of Exhibits
Exhibit E-1: Summary of Market Opportunities for Flexible Glass
Exhibit E-2: Flexible Glass: Comparison With Other Materials
Exhibit E-3: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use by Functionality ($ Million)
Exhibit 2-1: Corning's Ultra-Slim Flexible Glass
Exhibit 3-1: Opportunities for Flexible Large-Area Sensors
Exhibit 4-1: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use in the Display Industry
Exhibit 4-2: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use in the Solar Panel Industry
Exhibit 4-3: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use in the OLED Lighting Industry
Exhibit 4-4: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use in the Sensor Industry
Exhibit 4-5: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use by Application ($ Million)
Exhibit 4-6: Eight-Year Forecast of Flexible Glass Use by Functionality ($ Million)
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