Synopsis:

According to NanoMarkets, an analysis of key trends in several major industries points to a growing market for several specific types of "nano products." This analysis suggests that in some areas it is unlikely that anything less than a nanotech-based solution will do.

In the case of today's mobile communications -- and by extension, future pervasive computing environments -- radical new materials technologies are necessary to support the next evolution in computing. Moore's Law has already pushed conventional CMOS technology to its limits, and nanotech seems to be the only solution available to provide low-cost, non-volatile memory solutions, as well as high-definition, low-power-consumption microdisplays.

With respect to energy, as national economic and political interests are impacted by rising costs, nanotech promises to bring about new levels of efficiency for fossil fuel sources through nanoscale catalysts and filters. Nanotechnology also holds out the prospects of making fuel cells and photovoltaics more cost effective alternatives to fossil fuel energy.

At a time when expenditures on healthcare are escalating and the baby boomers will soon be entering their sixties, nanotechnology offers major improvements not only through the pharmaceutical industry developing new drugs but also in the creation of more efficient drug delivery systems, new diagnostic tools, and prosthetics.

One other point that the paper makes is that while semiconductors grew to become a huge industry, it was their evolutionary process that also created or drove the growth of related multibillion dollar industries as well companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. Nanotechnology itself may never become a huge industry in the classical sense but it could very well have an impact on the commercial world much like that of the semiconductor industry.

Source: NanoMarkets, LC