Market for sensors in handheld computers to triple
The market watchers from IHS estimate that the global revenue for sensors in smartphones and tablet computers will climb from $2.3 billion in 2012 to $6.5 billion in 2018, with emerging devices representing the fastest-expanding segment of this market. In this field, the IHS experts see a surge from just $24 million (2012) to $2.3 billion in 2018. In 2013 alone, this segment exhibited a dramatic growth when worldwide sales rose to $500 million – an increase by the factor of 20. The term ‘Emerging sensors’ refers to novel devices including fingerprint, optical pulse, humidity, gas, ultraviolet (UV) and thermal imaging. In contrast, "established" sensors in the sense of this market research include motion sensors, light sensors and MEMS microphones.
Now the next wave of sensor technology in smartphones and tablets has arrived, believes IHS senior analyst for MEMS and sensors, Marwan Boustany. “Led by Apple and Samsung, the mobile market is moving beyond simply integrating established devices like motion sensors and now is including next-generation features like fingerprint and environment/health sensors. Adoption of these newer devices will drive the expansion of the mobile sensor device market in the coming years,” Boustany said.
According to the expert, Apple initiated the market for fingerprint sensors in mobile devices with the release of the iPhone 5s in 2013. Against this background, IHS forecasts that shipments of fingerprint-enabled devices will reach 1.4 billion units in 2020 – more than four times the 317 million units expected to be shipped by the end of 2014.
The fingerprint sensor market is beginning to gain traction also at other companies. New devices with fingerprint sensors include Samsung’s flagship model—the Galaxy S5—and Huawei’s top-of-the-line smartphone, the Ascend Mate 7, both of which began shipping in 2014.
For its part, Samsung has pioneered the deployment of other devices, including environmental and health sensors in the flagship models introduced by the company during the last 18 months. Samsung rolled out a humidity sensor in the Galaxy S4, a pulse sensor in the Galaxy S5 and a UV sensor in the Note 4.
Fingerprint sensors play a key role in mobile payment services, providing authentication for systems like Apple Pay. Other banks and financial institutions, including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal are also working to support mobile payments and biometric authentication. Mobile payment services are expected to gain popularity across the entire industrialised world, across all continents.
Beyond payment solutions, the market is also driven by environment pollution: IHS expects that in the future, air quality sensors will experience growing usage in China. The first gas sensors have just been designed in by Chinese smartphone OEMs. IHS expects these phones will enter the market during the first half of 2015. There is also a specific demand for sensors that can detect particle pollution in large Chinese cities such as Beijing or Shanghai.
In terms of revenue, fingerprint sensors now dominate the mobile market, followed by optical pulse sensors, humidity and UV sensors. IHS anticipates gas sensors will join the fray in 2015 and thermal imagers will arrive during the 2018 time period.
Thermal imagers using microbolometer sensors emerged from the technology of forward-looking infrared (FLIR) systems in 2014 as accessories for the iPhone 5s. However, it will take a few more years before these sensors decline enough in pricing to be embedded in smartphones.
IHS predicts that Samsung will adopt gas/chemical sensors in the Note 6 smartphone, due for introduction in 2016. Some sensors that have appeared in smartphones are likely to migrate to wearables, which in some cases are better platforms for health or environmental sensors.
More information can be found in the report Emerging Sensors in Handsets & Tablets Report – 2014
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