Tag Archives: ITO Replacement

3M’s metal mesh touch screen patents and lawsuits interview

August 24, 2018 By Jennifer Colegrove, Ph.D. Principal Analyst, Touch Display Research Inc.

This week 3M announced a patent infringement lawsuit again a touch panel supplier Tovis, its subsidiary Tovis North America, and Scientific Games Corporation. The suit alleges that certain Tovis touch display products which are used by Scientific Games in their gaming machines infringe 3M’s U.S. Patents 8,179,381; 9,823,786; 8,274,494; and 8,704,799.

In the “ITO-replacement: transparent conductor market 2017 report, Seventh edition”, Touch Display Research profiled over three hundred companies working on non-ITO transparent conductors. Metal mesh is one of the most popular transparent conductor materials and is widely used in projected capacitive touch sensors for smart phones, active pen touch tablets and notebooks, and in large-format, digital touch signage.

Figure: ITO Replacement 2017 Report

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., ITO-Replacement Report, February 2017

Earlier this year, 3M filed a similar patent infringement lawsuit against Elo Touch Solutions Inc.

“3M invests substantially in research and development to create innovative products for our customers,” said Makoto Ishii, vice president and general manager, 3M Display Materials and Systems Division. “We will defend our intellectual property protecting those investments against unauthorized use and infringement by metal mesh manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and others making use of 3M’s intellectual property rights.”

Touch Display Research interviewed Mr. Scott Hagermoser, Global Business Manager of 3M Touch Systems about metal mesh patents and the lawsuit. I asked that since metal mesh is a widely used ITO-replacement transparent conductor, what was the optimal result that 3M expected from this legal action. Mr. Hagermoser indicated, “3M doesn’t want to be overly disruptive to the touch industry; we are not a patent troll organization. We offer to license our metal mesh technologies so we can get compensation for our investment.”

Metal mesh suppliers have different patterns and structures, such as one film with two sides of metal mesh, or two films where each side has one metal mesh. I asked if it was possible that some metal mesh companies could avoid 3M’s metal mesh patents. Mr. Hagermoser indicated 3M had many claims in their metal mesh patents, and the details have to be left to the lawyers and engineers to figure out.

I asked if 3M is also suing Microsoft for the metal mesh, Mr. Hagermoser said that he won’t comment on that.

I’ve been the first industry analyst to write market research reports about the touch screen industry since 2006. When I saw the trends of new transparent conductive material used on touch screens, I published the industry’s first “ITO-Replacement: Transparent Conductor Market Report” in 2013. Many touch screen manufacturers, display manufacturers, OEM/ODMs are my good industry friends. I don’t like to see them sue each other. However, on the other hand, I don’t like the thought of intellectual property theft. We should play the game fairly. I recommend when your company manufactures or purchases metal mesh touch screens, you inquire if that touch screen is clear from others patents.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team

Active pen, touch, and voice recognition

These emerging technology markets are heating up.

	16 types of active pen and 9 types of passive pen are analyzed Over 170 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 400 page PowerPoint. Market data include 5 years history data (2013 to 2017), and 6 years forecasts (from 2018 to 2023). All the devices with active pen are compared side-by-side with pen technologies, and pen suppliers in the excel database. Read more
	Touch panel for 9 vertical, or commercial market. Over 270 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 250 page PowerPoint. Market data include 4 years history data (2013 to 2016), and 6 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2022). Business strategy recommendations to transfer from consumer touch business to vertical market. Read more…
	Comprehensive analysis of voice command, voice recognition, speech recognition, virtual assistant, voice translation, machine learning, and smart speaker devices. Over 300 companies profiled in the excel database. Market data include 4 years of history data (2013 to 2016), and 8 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2024). Over 290 page PowerPoint. Voice technologies in 11 applications are analyzed in the report. Read more
	Detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other transparent conductive technologies. Over 300 companies profiled in the excel database. Over 500 page PowerPoint. Market data include 5 years history data (2012 to 2016), and 8 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2024). Read more…

Reasons to pick these reports:

We attend or speak at over ten industry conferences each year and interview hundreds of companies annually to provide the first-hand information and analysis in this report.
Colegrove, author of this report, performed first-hand surveys and interviews with hundreds of display manufacturers, touch panel suppliers, and OEM/ODMs in the last 12 years.
Obtain market intelligence, find out the market trends and profit from it
Know your competitors
Invest in the right direction, avoid wrong investment
Empower your business planning, make fact based decisions
The more advice you get, the more likely you are to win. –Proverb

Touch Display Research experts have been writing touch and display industry analysis reports for over twelve years. You can access this expertise by purchasing and receiving the report today.

These market reports are available immediately. You can subscribe on our website in the Market research report page, or contact us by email: jc@touchdisplayresearch.com

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About Touch Display Research Inc.

Touch Display Research, Inc. (www.TouchDisplayResearch.com) is a technology market research and consulting firm specializing in touch screen and emerging display technologies such as OLED displays, quantum dots, flexible displays, e-paper displays, ITO-replacement, Active pen, near-eye displays, smart windows, gesture controls, voice controls, and eye controls. Touch Display Research helps technology companies grow and connecting their technologies to the marketplace. We have been writing about OLED industry for over 10 years. We were the first company to publish Quantum Dot market reports. We were the first company to publish Active Pen market report, and ITO-replacement market report. We have always been there to analyze new and emerging technologies. Touch Display Research provides reports, consulting, and due diligence to touch suppliers, display manufacturers, consumer electronics ODMs/OEMs, material suppliers, investors and venture capitalists. We are member of Flextech Alliance, SEMI and SID.

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Active pen, ITO-replacement, Smart Windows

These emerging technology markets are heating up.

Google just joined Universal Stylus Initiative in Jan 2018.

Over 120 companies profiled in the excel database.

Over 330 page PowerPoint.

Market data include 4 years history data (2013 to 2016), and 6 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2022).

All the devices with active pen are compared side-by-side with pen technologies, and pen suppliers in the excel database. Read more

Transparent conductor material industry had a shake out.

Over 300 companies profiled in the excel database.

Over 500 page PowerPoint.

Market data include 5 years history data (2012 to 2016), and 8 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2024). Read more…

19 types of smart windows technologies and supply chain are analyzed in this report.

Over 130 companies profiled in the excel database.

Over 170 page PowerPoint.

Market data include 1 year history data (2016), and 11 years forecasts (from 2017 to 2027). Read more…

Reasons to purchase:

We attend or speak at over ten industry conferences each year and interview hundreds of companies annually to provide the first-hand information and analysis in this report.
Dr. Colegrove, author of this report, performed first-hand surveys and interviews with hundreds of touch panel suppliers, ITO-replacement suppliers, smart window suppliers and OEM/ODMs in the last 10 years.
Obtain market intelligence
Know your competitors
Invest in the right direction, avoid wrong investment
Empower your business planning
The more advice you get, the more likely you are to win. –Proverb

Touch Display Research experts have been writing touch and display industry analysis reports for over ten years. You can access this expertise by purchasing and receiving the report today.

These market reports are available immediately. You can subscribe on our website in the Market research report page, or contact us by email: jc@touchdisplayresearch.com

What our clients say

“I read your monthly report from cover to cover. It’s very informative and helpful.”–a client of the Touch and Emerging Display monthly report.

“Great report. It’s very thorough.”–a client of our ITO-replacement report

About Touch Display Research Inc.

Touch Display Research Membership subscription

Cisco’s Spark Board touch screen is using ITO-replacement

March 7, 2017

Microsoft’s Surface Hub brought interactive whiteboard to a higher level last year.

In October 2016, Google announced it will release 55 inch Jamboard interactive whiteboard to the market in 2017 to compete with Surface Hub. But the Jamboard is still not available yet at this moment.

On January 24th, 2017, Cisco announced its Spark Board and joined the competition. Cisco is moving faster than Google: the Spark Board became available in end of January. People can purchase the 55 inch Spark Board right now for $4990 plus a monthly fee of $199. Cisco will release a 70” version in end of this year for $9,990.

Figure: Cisco Spark Board

Source: Cisco

Touch Display Research believes the Spark Board touch sensor is using metal mesh or silver nanowire transparent conductors.

In the ITO Replacement—Non-ITO Transparent Conductor Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2017 Report, seventh edition, Touch Display Research profiled over 300 companies and research institutes working on advanced transparent conductive (TC) materials. The report provides a detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other technologies.

Figure: ITO replacement 2017 report

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., 2017

Our survey found that the ITO-replacement transparent conductive material industry had grown over 10 time from 2012 to 2017. Touch Display Research forecasted that non-ITO transparent conductors will continue to have rapid growth in the next several years.

Many companies’ metal mesh characters are compared in one chart in the Excel database, and the silver nanowires of many companies are also compared in one chart in the report.

The “ITO-replacement Technologies and Market Forecast 2017 Report” Seventh Edition is available immediately.

PowerPoint file	>500 pages
Excel database	Profiles >300 companies. 5 years history data: 2012- 2016 and 8 years forecasts from 2017 to 2024. Units, ASP, Revenue. List of all ITO-replacement devices and suppliers; comparisons of many metal mesh, many silver nanowire
Published time	February, 13^th, 2017
Price	$5800 for company with <5 user. $6800 for company with 5 or more users
Bonus	Client can have a 30-minute free phone call with the author: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, within 3 months of the purchase

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team

Automotive company Faurecia Invests in Canatu

September 30, 2016

Last month, Canatu announced it received 22 million Euros funding. One of the new significant investor is an automotive company.

Today, Canatu announced that automotive investor is Faurecia.

Faurecia is a France-headquartered automotive system integrator with 103K employees, and 21 billion Euro revenue in 2015. Faurecia has three Business Groups: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, and Interior Systems.

“Touch is a very natural and intuitive way of interacting and will become ubiquitous in the car interior. We are proud to have our CNB Film to be a key enabler in bringing Faurecia’s visions of Smart Surfaces and Intuitive Connectivity into life”, says the new CEO Juha Kokkonen from Canatu.

“This is an important step in the evolution of our interior systems offering towards the move to smart surfaces, driven by the fusion between electronics and surface decorations. Coupling Faurecia’s position as Lead Architect of a new Customer Experience and Canatu’s unique CNB films, we are convinced that the combination will rapidly offer automotive-level solutions tailored to end-consumers’ advanced needs” explains Mr. David Weill, VP Marketing and Business Development at Faurecia Interior Systems.

In the ITO Replacement—Non-ITO Transparent Conductor Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2016 Report, sixth edition, Touch Display Research analyzed over 240 companies and research institutes working on advanced transparent conductive (TC) materials. The report provides a detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other technologies.

Touch Display Research forecasts that the ITO-replacement market will reach $13 billion by 2023.

Figure: ITO replacement comparison chart

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., ITO-Replacement Report, 2016

In the recently published “Automotive touch, display, ADAS and touchless HMI 2016 report,” Touch Display Research Inc., analyzes automotive touch screen, display, ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistant System), and touchless human-machine-interaction (HMI). More than 500 companies working on automotive technologies are profiled in the report, which includes over 100 automotive companies, over 200 touch screen companies, over 200 touchless human-machine-interaction (HMI) companies and about 30 display companies.

The automotive industry’s adoption of new technologies has accelerated in the past couples of years. More and more touch screens and displays are integrated in the automobiles for better infotainment, intuitive control, and safety.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team

Cima and Anoto Active Pen for Large Touch Displays

February 20, 2016

At ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2016, Cima Nanotech booth showcased large size touch display with Anoto’s active pen. The touch sensor is using ITO-replacement–Cima’s SANTE transparent conductor technology. The Anoto’s active pen is based on camera with micro dot technology.

Figure 1. Cima Nanotech with Anoto active pen at ISE 2016

Photo source: Display Daily, Feb 2016

The active pen industry landscape has changed dramatically in recent 2 years: The number of companies actively working on active pen technology has increased from 60 companies in 2014 to over 100 companies in 2016.

Touch Display Research defines active pen as a pen with an electronic circuit. Some active pens have an integrated battery in it, and others don’t. A passive pen has neither an electronic circuit nor a battery. In the recently published “Active Pen Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2016 Report”, Second Edition, Touch Display Research Inc., analyzed more than twenty digital pen technologies, which include thirteen active pen technologies and eight passive pen technologies.

Figure 2: Active pen and passive pen summary and comparison (Full table is in the excel database)

Source: Touch Display Research, Active pen technologies supply chain and market forecast 2016 report.

Digital pen input is very useful in education, certain language input, medical, finance, industry applications, and content creation. Active pen technology is superior to passive in terms of accuracy, pressure sensing, and input of fine line. We forecast that active pen usage will have rapid growth in the next several years.

More analysis of active pen and active pen market forecast can be found in the “Active Pen Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2016 Report”. More analysis of ITO-replacement transparent conductor for large size touch display can be found in the “ITO-replacement 2016 report”.

You can subscribe on our website: www.touchdisplayresearch.com in the Market Research report page or by email: jc@touchdisplayresearch.com

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

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About Touch Display Research Inc.

Touch Display Research, Inc. (www.TouchDisplayResearch.com) is an independent technology market research and consulting firm specializing in touch screen and emerging display technologies such as OLED displays, OLED lighting, flexible displays, e-paper displays, ITO-replacement, Active pen, 3D displays, near-eye displays, pocket projectors, quantum dots, gesture controls, voice controls, and eye controls. Touch Display Research provides standard reports, consulting projects, and due diligence for touch suppliers, display manufacturers, consumer electronics ODMs/OEMs, material suppliers, investor companies, venture capitalists, and companies who are merging or acquiring companies in the touch screen, display, and materials industry. We are member of FlexTech Alliance and SID.

Kodak touch sensor after UniPixel

July 15, 2015

I recently had a chance to interview Kodak’s VP of Functional Printing group, Mr. Brian Marks. Mr. Marks indicated Kodak is currently working on two metal mesh technologies: 1. Silver metal mesh, and 2. Copper metal mesh.

As we covered before in Touch and Emerging Display monthly report, UniPixel bought the Atmel’s XSense business and facility in Colorado in April 2015.

On April 27, 2015, Kodak announced it is committed to moving forward independently with development of copper mesh touch sensor technology, following UniPixel’s decision to withdraw from joint activities with Kodak.

“We are pleased to have full control over the technology development program and excited about the business opportunities ahead. We expect to have products based on this technology in the market before the end of this year,” said Philip Cullimore, President – Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division and Micro 3D Printing & Packaging Division.

UniPixel and Kodak signed partnership agreement back in 2013. But after about 2 years, the partnership broke up.

In the recently published “ITO-replacement: non-ITO transparent conductor technologies and market forecast 2015 report“, Touch Display Research forecast the non-ITO transparent conductor market will have rapid growth and reach $10.9 billion in 2022.

Figure: ITO-replacement market forecast.

Source: Touch Display Research Inc. ITO-replacement 2015 report.

More analyst about Kodak touch sensor technologies, supply chain and business will be in the “Touch and Emerging Display monthly report”, July 2015 issue.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

Nissha partners with C3Nano

May 8, 2015

Today, Nissha and C3Nano announced they are partnering to develop silver nanowire type transparent conductor for touch sensor applications.

Touch Display Research had a chance to talk to C3Nano’s CEO, Mr. Cliff Morris recently. He indicated being selected by Nissha as a development partner validates C3nano’s position as a performance leader in TCFs.

Our survey found that the adoption of silver nanowire and metal mesh are accelerating. In the newly published ITO-replacement 2015 report, Touch Display Research forecast ITO-replacement market will grow to 10.9 Billion by 2022.

Figure. ITO-replacement market forecast 2015 to 2022.

Source: Touch Display Research, ITO-replacement report, May 2015.

There are 25 companies and research institutes working on silver nanowire transparent conductor currently. Nissha is actually part of another joint venture with Cambrios and TPK on silver nanowire since 2013. More analysis can be found in the Touch and Emerging Display monthly report, May 2015 issue.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

Atmel exits metal mesh

February 9, 2015

On February 4^th, 2015, Atmel announced it decided to exit the XSense (Metal mesh type ITO-replacement) business.

It’s sad to see Atmel closing the Xsense fab in Colorado. I actually toured the XSense cleanroom in Colorado fab in November 2013.

As we wrote three months ago, in our “ITO-replacement: non-ITO transparent conductor technology and market forecast report”, 4^th edition, “Metal mesh transparent conductor is facing obstacles due to optical and yield issues. Metal mesh manufacturers need to consider new strategies to increase market share.”

Figure. ITO replacement report 4^th edition

Source: Touch Display Research, November 2014.

This report profiles over 220 companies and research institutes working on advanced transparent conductive (TC) materials and provides a detailed analysis of metal mesh, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, silver nanowire, graphene, and other technologies.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

Cambrios silver nanowire in One Film Solution touch panel

October 7, 2014
This week, Cambrios announced its new generation silver nanowire. The new silver nanowire is thinner than DNA, which is about 2nm. Cambrios claims silver nanowire is leaving behind other ITO-replacement technologies such as metal mesh.
At the same time, touch panel manufacturer, Henghao Technology, indicated they’ve adopted silver nanowire on the One Film Solution (OFS) touch panels.

Figure. ITO-replacement comparison chart

Source: Touch Display Research Inc., ITO-replacement report, May 2014

In the Touch Display Research “ITO-replacement report”, we profiles over 220 companies and research institutes working on advanced transparent conductive (TC) materials and provides a detailed analysis of metal mesh, silver nanowire, carbon nano tube (CNT), conductive polymer, graphene, and other technologies.
Touch Display Research forecasts that the non-ITO transparent conductor market will reach $8.1 billion by 2021.
One Film Solution and flexible touch screen will be analyzed in our “Touch and Emerging Display” monthly report.

Thanks for reading,
Jennifer and team