Falling ASPs will impact sensor market
And in general the high volumes in which sensors are being used and the intense competition for design wins in Internet of Things (IoT) nodes and wearable equipment will drives down average selling prices (ASPs). The result will be strengthening sensor shipments but reduced sales growth, the market researcher said.
In the short term IC Insights expects total sensor sales to grow 7 percent in 2015 to $6.1 billion following on from a 5 percent rise in 2014. Sensor shipments are projected to climb 16 percent in 2015 to 12.9 billion units after a 13 percent increase in 2014.
Sensor shipments are getting a big boost from the spread of embedded measurement functions for automated intelligent controls in systems and new high-volume applications – such as wearable electronics and the huge potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) – but sales growth is being pulled down significantly by price erosion, IC Insights said.
When examining ASPs – rather than the more usual market metrics of unit shipments and value – all types of semiconductor sensors are expected to show a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 percent over the next five years. This is double the rate of decline over the period 2009 to 2014.
Unit volume growth will have a higher positive CAGR of about 11.4 percent from 2014 to 2019 and therefore there will be market growth.
Unit volume growth CAGR from 2014 to 2019 will be 11.4 percent with the annual market reaching 19.1 billion sensor shipments worldwide in 2019. As a result revenue growth is projected to rise by an annual rate of 6.0 percent in the forecast period. In comparison, sensor sales grew with a CAGR of 17.1 percent between 2009 and 2014 to reach an annual value of $5.7 billion in 2014, IC Insights reckons.
Next: By the categories
ASP erosion is partly a result of intense competition among a growing number of sensor suppliers pursuing new portable, consumer, and IoT applications. The low pricing is squeezing profit margins among suppliers causing some to re-assess which markets they want to be in.
Sensor, actuator market by 2014 market share and forecast CAGR. Source: IC Insights.
Acceleration and gyroscope devices are the largest sensor category, in terms of dollar sales volume, accounting for 26 percent of the sensor plus actuator market in 2014. This is the category with the lowest CAGR over the next five years and it achieved unit growth of only 1 percent in 2014 resulting in a 4 percent drop in the value of worldwide sales to $2.4 billion, IC Insights said. This was after a fall of 2 percent in 2013.
Magnetic-field sensors rebounded in 2014 with an 11 percent increase in sales to about $1.6 billion after falling 1 percent in 2013. Pressure sensor sales remained strong in 2014, growing 15 percent to $1.5 billion after climbing 16 percent in 2013.
Next: MEMS
MEMS-based product sales grew about 5 percent to $7.4 billion in 2014 up from $7.0 billion in 2013, according to IC Insights. Sensors accounted for 53 percent of MEMS-based semiconductor sales in 2014 ($3.9 billion) while 46 percent of the total ($3.5 billion) came from actuators, such as micro-mirrors for displays and digital projectors, microfluidic devices for inkjet printer nozzles and other applications, radio frequency (RF) MEMS filters, and timekeeping silicon oscillators.
In terms of unit volumes, sensors represented 80 percent of the 5.1 billion MEMS-based semiconductors shipped in 2014 (4.1 billion) with the remaining 20 percent being actuators (about 1.0 billion). Sales of MEMS-based sensors and actuators are forecast to grow 7 percent in 2015 to $7.9 billion and reach $9.8 billion in 2019, representing a CAGR of 12.0 percent from 2014.
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Sensors, actuators market on 11% CAGR to 2018
CMOS image sensor market on 10.6% CAGR
Yole: MEMS in mobile market on 14% CAGR
Sensors for wearable electronics on 40% CAGR
Chips-for-wearables market on 30 percent CAGR
Chip market for wireless sensor networks on 23% CAGR
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