(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) RIS technology holds vast opportunities in 6G communications as it becomes crucial for improved coverage, capacity, and green communications. The market is driven by emerging priorities like STAR-RIS and beyond-diagonal architectures. This shift promises transformative benefits, yet requires deep understanding of rapid advancements.

Dublin, Oct. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "6G Communications: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface RIS Materials and Hardware Markets, Technology 2026-2046" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets's offering.

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces RIS for 6G Communications may become the largest market for metasurfaces. Billion-dollar businesses will be created providing them. However, companies making added-value materials and hardware face a dilemma when seeking to understand their RIS opportunities. Researchers largely indulge in obscure theoretical studies using many terms to mean the same thing. Companies developing RIS systems are understandably secretive and old market research is useless in such a fast-moving subject.

Deep understanding of latest realities

Commercially oriented, it has 10 SWOT appraisals, 11 chapters, 25 forecast lines 2026-2046, 30 key conclusions, 41 new infograms and it covers 106 companies. There is much on the current priority of RIS at or near 5G frequencies for 6G launch in 2030 and recent breakthroughs in exciting emerging sectors such as beyond-diagonal, morphing, transparent all-round RIS, active RIS, aerospace RIS and large area RIS.

Quick read

The Executive Summary and Conclusions takes 73 pages to clearly present the 30 conclusions, the main SWOT reports, analysis of which materials and technologies will matter, roadmaps and forecasts as tables and graphs with explanation. Learn how RIS will be essential, later vanishing into the fabric of society yet assisting in the provision of stellar, ubiquitous performance involving multiple additional user benefits. All subsequent chapters are boosted by detail on the many research advances and initiatives through 2025. Miss those and you are misled.

Main report

Chapter 2. Introduction (100 pages) gives RIS definitions, clarifying the terminology thicket, design basics and future evolution to become smart materials, smart windows and more. Understand the disruptive, very-challenging 6G Phase Two essential for most of the promised 6G paybacks and benefits to society. RIS aspects introduced here include improved spatial coverage, macro-diversity, capacity enhancement, green communications, enabling large scale Internet of Things, reliability enhancement, sensing and localization. Grasp RIS from the systems and security viewpoint and the activities of standards bodies and influencers related to 6G RIS.

Chapter 3 takes 51 pages to cover the "Ultimate 6G RIS hardware toolkit: invisible, wide area, self-powered, self-learning, self-adaptive, self-healing, self-cleaning, ubiquitous, autonomous, everlasting, AI enabled, dynamic spectrum sharing, other". Importantly, it clarifies most of what can and should be achieved before looking at progress towards it in the rest of the report. Many new infograms and SWOT appraisals make it easy to grasp. Examples include routes to self-powered infrastructure, unpowered client devices, artificial intelligence for both RIS design and operation, spectrum sharing.

Chapter 4 covers the new realisation that RIS has only been designed to operate in a small subset of what is possible. This chapter is called "Beyond diagonal RIS architecture tackles 6G RIS limitations: Surge in advances through 2025" (26 pages). These more advanced options can provide more range, reach around obstructions and other benefits.

Chapter 5. "Multifunctional and multi-mode RIS including STAR-RIS, ISAC, SWIPT" covers these other emerging priorities, most of which can work with BD-RIS where appropriate. Learn how RIS will often be multi-mode such as with both active and semi-passive tiles, simultaneous transmission and reflection, multiple frequencies. Transparent STAR-RIS will give all-round coverage and there is now huge interest in integrating sensing and communication ISAC with RIS. Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer SWIPT is rather like Radio Frequency identification RFID backscatter on steroids, leading to similarly unpowered and sometimes battery-free devices.

We next move beyond RIS enhancing the propagation path to it enhancing transmission and the allied topic of assisting and using drones. Chapter 6. "Base station, UM-MIMO, Tower in the Sky HAPS and other UAV RIS" (36 pages) includes the RIS prospects with High Altitude Pseudo Satellites HAPS that have cost and other advantages over satellites. These solar drones can be repaired, repositioned, hold position, give faster response by being nearer and maybe eventually stay aloft for almost as long as a LEO satellite.

Chapter 7. "RIS tuning hardware objectives and progress with research through 2025" (71 pages) goes much deeper into this vital aspect, importantly with many new research advances assessed through 2025. What materials opportunities? Progress from discrete components to tuning materials in the metamaterial pattern? Problems that are your gaps in the market?

Chapter 8. Optical Wireless Communications ORIS for 6G: major progress through 2025 (65 pages) covers a RIS aspect often ignored in market surveys but increasingly in focus for later 6G. Learn why infrared and visible light are best optical options on current evidence and how they are complementary. See ORIS theory and practice.

Chapter 9. "6G Morphing Flexible Intelligent Metasurfaces FIM, 6G hypersurfaces, metamaterial basics" (49 pages) explains these, mostly new options that enjoyed a great surge of research advances through 2025. They are another way of providing much superior performance even at GHz and mmWave frequencies. They may be a route to reversing the reduced enthusiasm for THz frequency in 6G by making it viable outdoors when combined with other new approaches covered earlier.

Chapter 10. "RIS and reflect-array manufacture, inspection, testing, cost breakdown" (14 pages) covers these aspects, including recent changes of direction. Chapter 11. "6G RIS companies: products, plans, patents, appraisals: 2025-26" then closes the report with RIS-related work of 30 companies being separately assessed.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive summary and conclusions with roadmap and forecast lines 2026-2046
1.1 Purpose of this report
1.2 Methodology of this analysis
1.3 Background to RIS
1.4 Many types of RIS needed for 6G

2. Introduction
2.1 Overview
2.2 RIS functionality and usefulness - a closer look
2.3 Activities of standards bodies and influencers related to 6G RIS
2.4 Broadening vs retrenching 6G and 6G RIS objectives, smart radio environments
2.5 Terminology thicket
2.6 Changing industrial and research trends through 2025
2.7 Improving reach at the higher frequencies: trajectory engineering
2.8 Analysis of 18 other research advances through 2025
2.9 6G global architecture proposals, complementary systems

3. Ultimate 6G RIS hardware toolkit: invisible, wide area, self-powered, self-learning, self-adaptive, self-healing, self-cleaning, ubiquitous, autonomous, everlasting, AI enabled, dynamic spectrum sharing, other
3.1 Overview
3.2 Invisible RIS - transparent or out of sight
3.3 Large Intelligent Surfaces LIS and Extremely Large-scale Antenna Array ELAA 2025 research including wide area RIS
3.4 RIS will become self-powered and enable zero energy client devices
3.5 Long life: self-healing materials for fit-and-forget
3.6 Artificial intelligence and machine learning for optimising, self-learning, self-adaptive , autonomous RIS: Progress through 2025
3.7 Multimode and multifrequency, dynamic spectrum sharing DSS 6G and its RIS

4. Beyond diagonal RIS architecture tackles 6G RIS limitations: Surge in advances through 2025
4.1 Definitions, material challenges, applicability
4.2 Potential benefits of BD-RIS
4.3 BD-RIS hardware challenges
4.4 Practical implementations and requirement for improvement

5. Multifunctional and multi-mode RIS including STAR RIS, ISAC, SWIPT
5.1 Overview with review of 2025 research, industrial trends and possibilities
5.2 Simultaneous transmissive and reflective STAR RIS
5.3 Other multifunctional and multi-mode RIS

6. Base station, UM-MIMO, Tower in the Sky HAPS and other UAV RIS
6.1 Overview
6.2 Progress to UM-MIMO
6.3 RIS-enabled, self-powered ultra-massive 6G UM-MIMO base station design
6.4 RIS for massive MIMO base station: Tsinghua University, Emerson
6.5 RIS as small cell base station
6.6 Other important advances in RIS-enabled MIMO and base stations in 2025
6.7 How satellites and UAVs will aid and sometimes benefit from 6G RIS: advances through 2025
6.8 Important advances in 2024
6.9 Large stratospheric HAPS RIS

7. RIS tuning hardware objectives and progress with research through 2025
7.1 Overview
7.2 Lessons from research carried out on RIS tuning: 2025 and earlier
7.3 Detailed analysis of progress with discrete tuning components
7.4 Prioritisation of tuning materials replacing discretes for 6G RIS 0.1-1THz and NearIR
7.5 Large RIS and other gaps in the market

8. Optical Wireless Communications ORIS for 6G: major progress through 2025
8.1 Why OWC including RIS at its frequencies is an attractive addition for 6G
8.2 The potential and the challenges of Optical RIS ORIS with SWOT appraisals
8.3 ORIS implementation procedures
8.4 Long range, underground, underwater and space OWC: RIS: research advances 2025 and earlier
8.5 Short range and indoor OWC and its RIS: research advances through 2025 and earlier
8.6 Potentially 6G optical materials
8.7 Metalenses for 6G including advances through 2025
8.8 Mirror array ORIS design

9. 6G Morphing Flexible Intelligent Metasurfaces FIM, 6G hypersurfaces, metamaterial basics
9.1 Overview
9.2 Appraisal of 6G-related metamaterial research major advances through 2025
9.3 Metamaterial basics
9.4 Metasurface basics
9.5 The long-term picture of metamaterials overall
9.6 Emerging applications of GHz, THz, infrared and optical metamaterials
9.7 Thermal metamaterials
9.8 SWOT appraisal for metamaterials and metasurfaces generally
9.9 Morphing Flexible Intelligent Metasurfaces FIM basics and their research through 2025

10. RIS and reflect-array manufacture, inspection, testing, cost breakdown
10.1 Thin film and transparent electronics state-of-the-art
10.2 Trend from discrete boards, stacked films to full smart material integration
10.3 Importance of flexible, laminar and 2D energy harvesting and sensing
10.4 How manufacturing technologies differ for 6G RIS optical, low or high THz
10.5 6G RIS inspection and testing: new advances in 2025
10.6 RIS cost analysis

11. 6G RIS companies: products, plans, patents, appraisals: 2025-26

• Overview and patenting
• Rapidly changing situation 2025-6
• RIS patenting and literature trends
• AGC Japan
• Alcan Systems Germany
• Alibaba China
• Alphacore USA
• China Telecom China Mobile, China Unicom, Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, CICT China collaboration
• Ericsson Sweden
• Fractal Antenna Systems USA
• Greenerwave France
• Huawei China
• ITOCHU Japan
• Kymeta Corp. USA
• Kyocera Japan
• Metacept Systems USA
• Metawave USA
• NEC Japan
• Nokia Finland with LG Uplus South Korea
• NTT DoCoMo and NTTJapan
• Orange France
• Panasonic Japan
• Pivotal Commware USA
• Qualcomm USA
• Samsung Electronic South Korea
• Sekisui Japan
• SensorMetrix USA
• SK Telecom South Korea
• Sony Japan
• Teraview USA
• Vivo Mobile Communications China
• VTT Finland
• ZTE China

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