Over the past 20 years, e-textiles have progressed from an academic curiosity to an important technology platform generating revenue for companies globally. Companies in e-textiles get the majority of their revenue on a project-by-project basis. Many companies continue to investigate this sector, fuelled by a clear long-term vision for the potential around e-textiles. Electronic products and their surrounding digital ecosystem which they fuel are key products for the four largest companies in the world. The idea is to combine the features of each, providing a comfortable, fashionable, customisable interface between humans and digital products, creating huge value in the process. These early steps are critical to establishing real short-term revenue, before developing towards the bigger picture ideas.

Challenges for e-textiles companies range from optimising supply chain and manufacturing, validating product value in the minds of consumers to end of life management of the products once they are sold. Steps are being taken across these challenges, in investing to consolidate advanced manufacturing in house, pursuing medical approval routes for biometric monitoring after consumer routes have proven unfavorable, and by optimising materials with recycling or disposal in mind.

Most prominent e-textile brands remain relatively young, driven either by recent start-ups, spin-outs from larger companies lower in the value chain, or generally companies outside of the mass-market consumer sector in either textiles or electronics.