Market landscape
Evaluating the market opportunity for electronic materials
Client overview
Strategic Allies Ltd (SAL) were working with a specialty chemical company wanting to diversity their offerings and explore new market opportunities. One area of particular interest was electronic materials, for example conductive adhesives, pastes and inks, thermal management materials, EMI shielding materials, electronic coatings and solder pastes.
To understand the nature and scale of the market opportunity, there was need to better understand the requirements of customers of electronic materials, level of satisfaction with current offerings, and unmet needs. There was also a desire to better understand the value chain for electronic materials, and identify companies operating in this space who potentially represent partners to further develop and commercialise new offerings and services to the market.
The search
SAL divided the project into two sequential phases. The first phase was designed to broadly evaluate the electronic materials market, and identify the most promising opportunity spaces for our client to consider based on alignment with existing products and capabilities, level of unmet need, the competitive landscape, potential market size and ease of market entry. Phase 2 constituted a deep dive into the prioritised technology areas to develop a comprehensive view on the technology (strengths, weaknesses, applications, and potential for disruption) and the market (size, drivers, competitive landscape, regulatory considerations, geographical hotspots etc.). SAL used a combination of primary and secondary research. 19 commentators including formulation experts, industry consultants, academics and technology owners were interviewed to gain invaluable perspectives and insights on the market. Expert commentary was combined with secondary research to generate a thorough report detailing the market opportunity, and providing clear recommendations in terms of market access and partnering opportunities.
“It was a great process”
“You have given us lots to think about”
Outcome
SAL identified a number of market opportunities where innovation was required to develop electronic materials that would support the manufacture of next-generation electronics. Specifics on the functionality desired by customers was provided.
SAL recommended several possible partners across industry and academia to support and accelerate market access.