LOPEC 2026, the “The World's Leading Exhibition and Conference for Flexible and Printed Electronics”, underscored its role as a globally important trade fair for flexible, organic, and printed electronics. With an international exhibitor field and an extensive conference program, the event offered a comprehensive overview of technological trends, market developments, and concrete application examples.

The trade fair took place at the ICM in Munich from February 24 to 26. It is organized by the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), an international industry association under the umbrella of the German Engineering Federation VDMA, and Messe München. The organizers reported 158 exhibitors from 29 countries and 2,400 visitors.


Alain Schumacher, Klaus Hecker and Wolfgang Mildner present the new edition of the OE-A Roadmap.

The fair was opened by LOPEC General Chair Wolfgang Mildner, Klaus Hecker, Managing Director of the OE-A, and Alain Schumacher, Chair of the OE-A. The association represents approximately 180 members worldwide. As a non-profit organization, it aims to promote the development and market penetration of flexible and printed electronics.

Market Development: Flexible and Printed Electronics

In their opening remarks, the organizers of the event provided an overview of the current state of Flexible and Printed Electronics (FPE). For the flexible and printed electronics segment excluding OLED, revenues of US$22 billion to US$38 billion are expected by 2026; by 2033, they are projected to rise to US$59 billion to US$83 billion. The OLED market is growing even more dynamically, with a projected volume of US$191 billion to US$300 billion by 2033, up from approximately US$70 billion today. This translates to an average annual growth rate of between 15 percent (FPE excluding OLED) and 17 percent (OLED).

The market is continuously expanding into new applications and industries. While automotive, healthcare, wearables, consumer electronics (with OLED as the largest single market), and smart buildings have already played a significant role for some time, the organizers of LOPEC are increasingly focusing on the aerospace and defense sector due to recent geopolitical developments.

Advantages of FPE include the fact that the materials used are thin, light, and flexible, as well as robust and easily integrated. Additive, sustainable manufacturing processes, low process temperatures, and cost-efficiency, especially in large area electronics (LAE), also play a significant role.


Several entire printed electronics production lines were shown in the exhibition.

10. Edition of OE-A Roadmap

The market is continuously expanding into new applications and industries. A key focus of the opening remarks was the presentation of the new OE-A Roadmap. This 310-page study, now in its 10th edition, is intended to serve as a key guide for research, industry, and policy. The roadmap systematically answers questions about the what, why, and how, including the selection of suitable materials, the further development of printing and coating processes, production scalability, and the role of standardization. Finally, it also addresses the analysis of new applications and markets.

Since the previous edition in 2023, FPEs have significantly increased their market penetration. This is particularly evident in sectors such as the automotive industry, where FPEs are increasingly used for sensors, OLED lighting, printed antennas, and touch surfaces. Their importance is also growing in the consumer electronics sector due to OLED displays, rollable and foldable devices, and wearables. In the healthcare sector, FPEs are accelerating the development of wearable sensors for well-being and medical applications. New applications are emerging in the packaging industry, such as integrated sensors and temperature trackers, while smart buildings benefit from autonomously powered sensors and building-integrated operational amplifiers (OPVs). New applications are also emerging in the defense and aerospace sectors.

In the automotive sector, a wide range of applications can be observed, including seat occupancy sensors, touch sensors, battery management components, and large curved displays. For the coming years, increasing use is expected in driver posture detection and temperature sensors for battery packs, followed by smart windows and roof glazing transmission control, integrated OPVs, and thin, flexible sensor systems for the vehicle body and interior.

In the healthcare sector, FPE already enables continuous cardiac monitoring, temperature, and humidity measurement. Rehabilitation monitoring devices, motion sensors, and sleep monitoring will play a more significant role in the short term. Future developments will include flexible ultrasound solutions, printed oxygen sensor systems, and patches for lactate and sweat analysis.

Monitoring in the healthcare sector using FPE is already standard practice today, but will increase further.

In the newly added "Defense & Aerospace" sector, the OE-A highlighted application scenarios including wearables for performance and health monitoring, flexible X-ray detectors for defusing explosive devices, printed heating elements and temperature sensors in uniforms, and structural sensors in drones and aircraft.

The overall trend is toward "Sustainable Printed Electronics." Therefore, this area was also newly included in the study. Key aspects here include "Design for Reuse & Repair," the use of low-energy manufacturing processes, the use of non-toxic materials, the substitution of rare or scarce raw materials, and the expansion of recycling and hybrid technologies.


A wide variety of application scenarios are conceivable in the textile industry.

From a technological perspective, significant progress has been made. OLED displays remain the highest-volume product category and are evolving into increasingly larger, flexible, and rollable formats. OPV has become more reliable and marketable, and flexible perovskite PV is on the verge of commercialization. Printed energy storage devices, supercapacitors, and the newly integrated fuel cell sector are gaining increasing focus, particularly in the context of IoT and energy-autonomous systems. Significant progress is also being made in thin-film transistors (OTFT, metal oxide TFT), active and passive components, and 3D structural electronics. This demonstrates the increasing technological maturity of the value chain.

Overall, the 10th Roadmap clearly shows that FPE continues to mature and penetrate numerous industries. The diversity of technologies and applications is growing, and the market is expanding rapidly. Instead of a single "killer product," it is broad integration across many sectors that is driving this growth. The Roadmap is regularly updated to provide guidance to industry, research, and policymakers in this dynamic environment.

The study will be available for purchase starting in April of this year. A white paper summarizing the study is already available for download.

Industry Climate and Economic Expectations

The analysis of the OE-A Business Climate Surveys (January 2026) paints an overall positive picture: A cautious growth of 7 percent is expected for 2026, and even a 10 percent increase for 2027 and beyond. 73 percent of respondents indicated that they anticipate growth in 2026; in October, this figure was 58 percent. 84 percent of companies in the sector are planning new hires, compared to only 30 percent in October of last year. The industry has thus become significantly more optimistic within a short period.


One eye-catcher in the exhibition was Cream Guitars, whose design can be customized using E-Ink technology.

More than just a Trade Fair

LOPEC 2026 impressively demonstrated that flexible, organic, and printed electronics are no longer a niche topic. The range of products on display captivated the audience. The presented OEM roadmap further underscored the growing market dynamics and breadth of applications. LOPEC is not just a trade fair; an extensive, partly fee-based conference program transforms the event into a high-quality content delivery platform.

Flexible and printed electronics will become an increasingly central component of future product worlds – from automotive and medical technology to smart buildings and aerospace.

The next LOPEC will take place from March 2–4, 2027.