November 30, 2017, by Jennifer Colegrove Ph.D. Touch Display Research
Today, Merck announced it opened a new production facility for liquid crystal smart window modules in the Netherlands. The investment is around € 15 million.
Mr. Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and CEO Performance Materials, indicated, “We recently started taking orders from customers for modules that will be ready for delivery as of early 2018. The industry interest in liquid crystal windows we’ve seen so far is very positive.”
At SID DisplayWeek 2017 in California, Mr. Bob Miller, Senior Business Manager at Merck/EMD show us its liquid crystal smart windows in large format, see picture here. This is NOT PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal), but only liquid crystal.
Figure 1: Merck/EMD Mr. Bob Miller demonstrate their smart windows
Photo by: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove at Touch Display Research
In the recently published “Smart Windows Transparent Switchable Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2017 Report,” Touch Display Research Inc., analyzed 19 smart window technologies, which include 16 active smart window technologies and 3 passive smart window technologies. Some can be both active and passive. More than 130 companies working on smart window technologies are profiled in the report.
Figure 2. Smart Window Transparent Switchable Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast 2017 Report
Source: Touch Display Research, April 2017
“The smart windows industry is at the tipping point of accelerated growth,” said Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, CEO and Principal Analyst at Touch Display Research and author of the report. “There are billions of dollar opportunities for glass manufacturers, plastic film manufacturers, transparent conductor suppliers, adhesive and chemical companies, touch panel and display manufacturers.”
Thanks for reading,
Dr. Jennifer Colegrove and team