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With the global revenue estimated at over US$ 500 million, electronic skin (e-skin) market is projected to see an aggressive Y-o-Y growth at 20.7% in 2019, according to a study of Future Market Insights (FMI). Thriving as a niche marketplace currently in its nascent stage, electronic skin market will reportedly remain a high growth-low value landscape.
With remote healthcare monitoring spreading its roots and micro-electronics reaching the peak of technological advances, the study highlights impressive potential of healthcare industry to fortify applicability of electronic skin technology in the years to come.
Anticipated to play a vital role in instrumenting demand for electronic skin technology, remote patient monitoring equipment has been one of the strongest growth determinants associated with performance of electronic skin market. Looking at the dramatically rising rate of chronic disease prevalence and aging population more susceptible to acquiring chronic conditions, the report opines that potential applications in healthcare will particularly benefit from the electronic skin technology development. Flexibility and ultra-thin nature are emerging as paramount attributes pushing electronic skin adoption, making it an ideal candidate for wearable medical devices.
Besides potential applicability in breast cancer diagnostics, the market is favoring from research on electronic skin’s usability in healthy tattoos and non-invasive wound tracking.
Stretchable conductors and stretchable circuits hold a combined share of more than half of the total electronic skin market revenue.
In the backdrop of increasing investments in R&D of developing self-healing, comfortable monitoring systems by using electronic skin, FMI envisages electronic skin gaining the platform technology status in healthcare realm. At present, around 32% of the total revenue is being generated by adoption of electronic skin in healthcare. The report forecasts bullish prospects for revenue growth through e-skin adoption in healthcare, at around 20% Y-o-Y in 2019.
Consistent growth in research investments directed to discover new application platforms for electronic skin technology is cited as a high-impact demand growth determinant for electronic skin market. Consumer electronics, though currently registering moderately rising usage of electronic skin technology, are on the brink of emerging as the most lucrative investment pocket for electronic skin technology innovators in coming years. The report foresees that e-skin technology adoption will be on a constant high in consumer electronics, accounting for an exponential rate post 2020.
While electronic skin technology has already been trialed for application in portable remote control systems for hardware, emergence of attractive investment avenues are speeding up adoption of electronic skin in wearables, which already has a sizeable consumer base compared to a majority of other consumer electronics. This according to the report will play a crucial role in bolstering electronic skin market revenue in coming years.
Moreover, riding on a host of next-generation potential applications in assistive health, communication framework & protocol, and social intelligence robotics among others, electronic skin technology continues to garner research interests. Highly sensitive pressure sensing and impeccable flexibility are also pushing functionality of electronic skin technology in H2M (human-machine) interactions. Increasing research efforts concentrating on discovering potential of electronic skin in assisting robotic surgeries point to a magnificent application area developing for electronic skin technology innovation.
“With industrial robots being increasingly subject to sensory features for an efficiency upgrade, the potential of electronic skin technology to invade industrial sector and entirely replace human intervention cannot be understated,” says the FMI report.
Some of the prominent players such as Koninklijke Philips N.V. and Dialog Semiconductor are entering strategic partnerships and R&D collaborations to introduce new product lines. Patent security remains paramount for 3M before new product launches, says the report. However, a majority of competitors operating in global electronic skin market landscape are concentrating on R&D to explore novel e-skin applications that will offer a competitive edge.