3M announced metal mesh, silver nanowire and ITO film

December 17, 2013

It’s not a secret that 3M is developing metal mesh. What pleasantly surprised me is that 3M officially announced all 3 transparent conductor films: metal mesh film, silver nanowire film with Cambrios and ITO film.

I had the chance to talk to 3M’s marketing manager, Mr. Erik Lood, recently.  I asked him why you supply ITO film and ITO-replacement film at the same time. He indicated, “We want to offer our customers all the choices: good, better, best. Customers can choose.”

Touch Display Research forecast ITO-replacement market will grow from $206 million this year to $4 Billion by 2020.

How visible is 3M’s metal mesh lines? I’ll find out when I meet 3M in a few weeks.

More analysis can be found in our “Touch and Emerging Display report” December 2013 issue and Jan 2014 issue.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team