Nov 9, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Colorless Polyimide Films Market by Application, End-use Industry and Region - Global Forecast to 2026 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Global Colorless Polyimide Films Market by Application (Flexible Displays, Flexible Printed Circuit Boards, Flexible Solar Cells, Lighting Equipment), End-Use Industry (Electronics, Solar Energy, Medical), and Region - Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The colorless polyimide films market is projected to grow from USD 70 million in 2021 to USD 1,162 million by 2026, at a CAGR of 75.3% from 2021 to 2026.

The increasing demand for colorless polyimide films from applications such as flexible displays, flexible solar cells, and flexible printed circuit boards, among others, is expected to drive the colorless polyimide films market.

The flexible displays application segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Based on application, the flexible displays segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to the increased use of polyimide films in the manufacturing of flexible displays. In recent years, there has been immense development in the field of flexible active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays wherein hard glass is replaced by a flexible substrate made up of colorless polyimide films.

This has made the possibility of flexible displays a reality. Top smartphone manufacturers have already produced initial prototypes of smartphones with flexible displays such as Royole Corporation's FlexPai, Samsung's Galaxy Fold, Huawei's Mate X, and Lenovo's Cplus. Apple has also adopted the trend with a few patents of its own, related to bent edges using flexible OLEDs, foldable iPads, and a futuristic scrollable iDevice. Similarly, flexible substrates like colorless polyimides are being used to make laptops with foldable displays. In May 2019, Lenovo launched the world's first foldable laptop with a 13-inch bendable screen that folds in half to become the size of a book. The device is still in the early stages of development, but the company plans to scale it to commercial production soon.

The electronics end-use industry segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Based on end-use industry, the electronics segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Colorless polyimides provide excellent thermo-mechanical properties, have high chemical resistance, and are also optically transparent. These properties are suitable for manufacturing electronics such as flexible displays, flexible printed circuit boards, and lighting equipment. Fabricating temperatures may go as high as 300C, and conventional aromatic polyimides tend to disintegrate or change their color at such high processing temperatures. Hence, the demand for colorless polyimides is expected to increase as manufacturing technologies become more efficient and consistent.

Polymeric optical films with high thermal stability, high dimensional stability at elevated temperatures, high optical transparency, and high tensile strength are widely required in modern electronics for use as substrates in flexible displays and to cover windows for flexible active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) devices. However, conventional polymeric optical films such as polyolefin and polyester films have poor thermal and dimensional stability while standard high-temperature polymer films such as polyimides have a highly colored appearance and poor optical transparency in the visible light region.

Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in the colorless polyimide films market during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in the colorless polyimide films market from 2021 to 2026. The market here has witnessed growth in the last few years, owing to the growing economies of countries and the increasing consumption of colorless polyimide films for flexible display manufacturing in countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea. All major flexible display manufacturers such as LG Display Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Samsung Electronics (South Korea), Innolux Corp. (Taiwan), AU Optronics (Taiwan), Japan Display Inc. (Japan), and BOE Technology Group Co. (China), Ltd are located in Asia Pacific.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

  • Increasing Demand for the Development of Flexible Displays for Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices
  • Superior Thermo-Mechanical Properties

Restraints

  • High Manufacturing Cost and Limited Availability of Monomers for Synthesis
  • Current Limitations of Foldable Display Electronics

Opportunities

  • Increasing Use in Aerospace and Medical End-Use Industries
  • Applications as Coatings for Smart Windows, Optical Fiber, and Touch Panels

Challenges

  • Achieving Product Chemistry and Consistency

Companies Mentioned

  • Changchun Gao Qi Polyimide Material Co., Ltd.
  • E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company
  • Industrial Summit Technology Corporation
  • Kaneka Corporation
  • Kolon Industries Inc.
  • Nexolve Holding Company
  • Sk Innovation Co., Ltd.
  • Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd.
  • Suzhou Kinyu Electronics Co., Ltd.
  • Wuhan Imide New Materials Technology Co., Ltd.
  • Wuxi Shunxuan New Materials Co., Ltd.
  • Zymergen Inc.
  • Dr. Dietrich Muller GmbH

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bm4kt6