Printed, Flexible, and Organic Electronics Publications Growing 25% Annually Since 1996

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Nov 5, 2013) - With 18% of all publications, the United States is the leading country for research in printed, flexible and organic electronics (PFOE) while Asia is the leading region and the Seoul is the world's biggest regional hub, according to Lux Research.

Of the 213 research groups identified globally by Lux Research, the Seoul region in South Korea led with 61 top researchers, including hot fields like transparent conductive films and thin-film transistors (TFT), with 21 and 17 researchers, respectively.

"Academic partnerships are attractive for many reasons, from gaining access to early-stage technologies to recruiting top talent," said Jonathan Melnick, Lux Research Senior Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, "Getting Full Credit from Academic Partnerships: The Top Technologies, Regions and Universities." "The most successful approach brings together groups in close proximity to directly engage with one another -- companies must find not only the top groups but the leading innovation clusters," he added.

Lux Research analysts interviewed those directly involved in academic partnerships and evaluated the more than 36,000 academic publications in printed, flexible and organic electronics, across five major categories: displays, transparent conductive films (TCFs), smart packaging, thin-film batteries, and organic photovoltaics (OPV). Among their findings:

• Asia produces the majority of papers. With 52% of all publications, Asia was ahead of North America and Europe as a region. While Asian universities led for each technology area, their lead was greatest for graphene and metal nanoparticle TCF technologies.
  
  
• U.S., Korean institutions dominate. The U.S. and South Korea dominate the top-30 list of printed, flexible and organic electronics universities. Five of the top six are from South Korea - though U.S. universities are the most attractive for master agreements due to their balance between expertise in printed, flexible, and organic electronics and overall research capabilities.
  
  
• China leads in OPV, DSSC, graphene. China leads the world in publications in three key areas. In OPV, it holds a 19% share; in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), it has a 22% share; and in the rapidly emerging academic field of graphene it takes a 24% share.

The report, titled "Getting Full Credit from Academic Partnerships: The Top Technologies, Regions and Universities," is part of the Lux Research Printed, Flexible, and Organic Electronics Intelligence service.

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