Steady Progress Seen for Flexible Dsiplays

The market for flexible displays will grow from $16 million in 2007 to almost $2 billion by 2015, with low-cost, low information content applications likely to dominate at the outset, according to a report by DisplaySearch Inc.

Reaffirming previous reports on the technology, the Austin, Texas-based market research firm said no killer applications currently exist for flexible displays. Initial applications are expected to be simple and low cost, consisting of smart cards that have built in fraud protection, shelf labels tied to the cash register price changes, and point of purchase (POP) signs that foster time of day advertising.

According to DisplaySearch, these applications are typically low information content not requiring an active matrix, and they take advantage of the robustness and low power associated with reflective, bi-stable and passive matrix or segment driving schemes.

The firm added that the low-cost applications represent an opportunity for manufacturers to generate income while building the infrastructure and technology for higher volume and revenue generating applications with front of screen performance that demands active matrix backplanes. The report said that printing of polymer material on plastic and roll-to-roll manufacturing will play a key role in achieving these objectives.