Smart Textiles to Grow to US $1.8 Billion by 2021

A report published by an industry analyst firm ‘n-tech Research’ highlights the emerging smart textiles market. The report provides an extensive coverage of potential for emerging smart textile products where the textile is rapidly becoming the ‘sensor’.

The report titled ‘Smart Textile Markets 2016-2023’ prognosticates the growth of smart textiles over the next eight years both in terms of revenue and volume. According to the report, the market of smart textiles will grow to US $ 1.8 billion by 2021. The report lends an extensive coverage of growing smart textiles market which is witnessing increase in use of technology and smart materials, as well as the end-users who are accepting the (wearable) technology largely.

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The report includes an analysis of applications where smart textiles have a real opportunity to move beyond the lab to high-volume commercial applications. The report delves into various areas where smart textiles are applicable, including medical, health and fitness, military and security, fashion and non-clothing applications.

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As per the report, the largest market for smart textiles is to be found in the medical sector, which is estimated to become US $ 843 million market by 2021. The emerging smart textiles as ‘medical sensors’ will be useful for patients suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart problems. The embedded sensors will monitor the physiological conditions such as heartbeat and will instantly send updates to the physician.

The next potential market for smart textiles is that of ‘self-cleaning textiles’. The self-cleaning market is expected to reach US $ 573 million. Though the smart textiles technology is available for quite some time now, but the market will innovate itself by integrating smart antimicrobial capabilities making it fully omniphobic – being able to rid fabrics from dirt, oil, grease, etc.