Businessinfo: Report Sees Smart Textiles Topping $64.4 Million in 2004.

LONDON -- A new study from Businessinfo.ws puts the U.S. market for smart and interactive textiles at some $64.4 million in 2004 and is expected to rise at an AAGR (average annual growth rate) of 36% to $299.3 million in 2009. 'The SMIT Report' shows that consumer products accounted for the bulk of U.S. SMIT sales in 2003 and 2004. The SMIT Report notes that in some circles this might be considered overstated, since it includes products such as photochromic t-shirts and swimsuits, relatively low-tech products that nevertheless fit this report's definition of SMIT. Phase change and conductive textiles account for the rest of the market.

However, 'The SMIT Report' suggests that this is likely to change significantly over the next five years. The projected rapid growth of military, biomedical, and vehicle safety and comfort applications for SMIT is expected to have a major impact on both the size and structure of the market. Chromic or color-changing technologies dominated the market in 2003. However, with sales of conductive fabric products expected to nearly double each year between 2004 and 2009, and shape memory products entering the market in commercial quantities, the picture in 2009 is expected to be quite different.

To date, the U.S. military has been the leader in developing SMIT technologies and applications for such areas as body armor, artificial muscles, biochemical hazard protection, physiological status monitoring, location, and embedded communications and computing. Many of these same technologies also have potential civilian and commercial applications. For more about the report's conclusions, visit http://www.businessinfo.ws/archive/BIAABYZR.htm