IDTechEx Ltd

Only a 100 kilowatt-hour battery pack is in the luxury Vision EQS concept car of Mercedes yet it will deliver increased 700km range, partly because low drag factor is now going to be taken seriously, learning from Tesla. Range sells electric cars. Long range ones sell in 100 times the numbers and have three times the resale value.  By IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop

With accelerating uptake of lithium-ion batteries in stationary and mobile applications, today's shortages will reoccur in the years to come for many reasons beyond too few battery factories. For more, see the IDTechEx reports, "48V Mild Hybrid and 48V Full Hybrid Vehicles 2020-2030" and "Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage 2019-2029".

This is the second of a three-part series of articles on haptics. Haptics involves the use of technology to stimulate the sense of touch. IDTechEx has been covering the technology behind this important market sector for the last five years, and have just released their latest report: ‘Haptics 2020-2030: Technologies, Markets and Players’. 

The new version of the IDTechEx report ‘E-textiles 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets and Players’ includes brand new data about e-textiles revenue. Many companies have existed for a long time in the industry by making the majority of their revenue from R&D or design contracts rather than necessarily from product revenue.

Tiny laser diodes offer 3D sensing functionality for consumer electronics like smartphones and robots like self-driving cars. In this article, the technology consulting firm IDTechEx demonstrate how advances in laser technology and decreases in laser price enable novel applications in optical sensing. 

Every year IDTechEx Research publishes an article that reflects the latest trends in the conductive ink industry. These articles are based on IDTechEx Research’s report ‘Conductive Ink Markets 2019-2029: Forecasts, Technologies, Players’, which is the result of ongoing research over the past eight years. This year IDTechEx will give an update on multiple less mature trends which offer high growth potential.

Graphene industry is entering a new phase, a phase of growth. The industry has accumulated significant experience over the past ten to twelve years to bring about this phase. In this article, IDTechEx Research offer opinions about the recent past and future outlook of the graphene industry based on the report ‘Graphene, 2D Materials and Carbon Nanotubes: Markets, Technologies and Opportunities 2019-2029’. 

Power electronics is a growing market thanks to the electrification of many industries including the automotive industry, as outlined in the IDTechEx Research report ‘Conductive Ink Markets 2019-2029: Forecasts, Technologies, Players’. The power electronic modulus are also growing in performance. 

Machine makers in many established markets sell their machines directly or through dealer networks. At times, they create additional revenue streams by offering technical after-sales support. They often hope that the installed base of their machines together with limited incompatibility with competitors’ products provides some lock-in mechanism.

Solution processed light emitting organic materials were demonstrated in 1989 with a tiny 0.1 EQE (external quantum efficiency). Since then there has been tremendous progress on material synthesis/production as well as on display processing. However, thus far, commercialisation has remained elusive.

Bendable Displays have finally become a consumer product. It’s been no easy feat - making multiple layers of sensitive materials work reliably while the whole device is being flexed. By Raghu Das, CEO, IDTechEx.

Quantum dots (QDs) are a commercial success for nanotechnology and are already used in display applications. Importantly, the QD technology and application landscape is rapidly evolving. Here, IDTechEx have discussed the multiple innovation and commercialisation frontiers of this technology. 

The market composition of transparent conductive films (TCF) and materials (TCM) has not dramatically shifted for some years. It is heavily reliant upon select markets such as flat consumer small/medium sized electronic touch screens. The IDTechEx Research report ‘Transparent Conductive Films and Materials 2018-2028: Forecasts, Technologies, Players’ puts this reliance around 85-90% today. 

Last week while most of us this side of the pond were at the electronica exhibition in Munich, approximately 3,500 attendees from 42 countries headed to the IDTechEx Show in Santa Clara, California, which featured 284 exhibiting organisations. Raghu Das, CEO, IDTechEx, explains.

IDTechEx Research will focus on some of the key frontiers of short-, medium-, and long-term change in quantum dot (QDs) films. In particular, we will argue that the transition away from Cd based QDs will soon be complete; we will show how QD material improvements are translating into total cost reductions and how that is reshaping the market’s pricing strategies; and finally we will consider whether film type QDs can continue their supreme reign, or whether relentless innovation soon render them obsolete.

Supercapacitors will be a large market, it will interest suppliers of a wide range of speciality chemicals and added value feedstock. The new IDTechEx Research report Supercapacitor Materials and Technology Roadmap 2019-2039 appraises these and identifies gaps in the market for device variants and new material capabilities. 

Iron-based redox flow battery developer, ESS has announced a contract to design and install a combined energy warehouse flow battery storage and solar energy system in Brazil. According to Energy Storage Report, the $1.3m project will be funded in part by a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency through Pacto Geração Distribuída, a subsidiary of the renewable energy plant developer Pacto Energia, with the goal to prove the value of energy shifting using the ESS Energy Warehouse with solar PV.

A new IDTechEx Research report predicts that the Redox Flow Battery market will be worth $4.5bn by 2028. Redox flow batteries (RFB) are an energy storage technology initially developed by NASA in the 70’s for space applications. After several years of intensive R&D, in 2006, several key patents on the technology expired, opening up the arena to companies all around the world.

The release of Ready Player One this past weekend is a significant moment for the Virtual Reality industry. Ernest Cline's bestselling science fiction adventure will achieve a Spielberg-fueled launch to new heights of popular culture fame. It describes a world where living in the virtual reality of the OASIS becomes preferable to living within a dystopian future society riddled by war and energy crises.

The world of agriculture is being quietly transformed by robotic technology. One question to consider is whether tractors will evolve towards full unmanned autonomy? Tractor guidance and autosteer are well-established technologies. In the short to medium terms, both will continue their growth thanks to improvements and cost reductions in RTK GPS technology. Indeed, ID TechEx estimates that around 700,000 tractors equipped with autosteer or tractor guidance will be sold in 2028.