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.
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