Registered users can unlock up to five pieces of premium content each month.
Sensors Already Starting to Boom |
NEWS |
Demand for data, and therefore sensors, has soared since the start of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) revolution. Even before that, manufacturers started to switch from analog to digital sensors to improve access to data, and approximately 70% have already made that switch. At first, the increase in the number of sensors applied to motion, position, environmental, and current sensors. Now, the types of sensors have started to vary further to include acoustic, ultrasonic, infrared, video, and industrial machine vision equipment. The demand for more and more varied sensors has boomed because manufacturers need them to support new use cases ranging from digital twins to digital products and process inspection and monitoring.
Several companies and visionaries saw this boom coming, which has meant that competition among industrial sensor suppliers has intensified. More industrial automation companies such as ABB, Emerson, Rockwell Automation, and Texas Instruments joined Analog Devices, Bosch, and Honeywell in supplying aftermarket sensors for their products. Some existing semiconductor and sensor companies including Infineon and NXP joined STMicroelectronics in the industrial space. In addition, some startups have started to make some noise including 3DSignals, which specializes in acoustic and ultrasonic sensing for predictive maintenance. We expect that none of the above companies joined the party too late, and this boom will continue.
Continued Growth Driven by the IIoT |
IMPACT |
Ultimately, sensor suppliers should aim to give their clients the tools they need to provide the most accurate and complete view of reality, both in the present and in the future. This goal culminates in digital twins. As more manufacturers adopt more condition-based monitoring solutions to feed into digital twins, they will also buy more sensors. Manufacturers will scale digital twin solutions across their enterprises, resulting in 11.95 billion industrial sensors installed by 2026.
These sensors will generate US$1.8 billion in revenues for sensor suppliers globally that year alone. That global total rises from US$389 million in 2017, with a CAGR of 19% over the forecast period. The United States will lead the way as so many of the above-mentioned companies have their businesses based there.China lags slightly behind the United States currently as cheaper Chinese labor acts as a substitute for sensors and connectivity; however, China will grow the fastest of any individual country, with a CAGR of 22% in sensor revenue over the forecast period. The Alliance of Industrial Internet (AII) and similar initiatives, along with the Chinese government, will push the adoption of IIoT platforms in China. At the same time, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and its testbeds will promote IIoT applications in the United States and around the globe.
Recommendations for Sensor Suppliers |
RECOMMENDATIONS |
To take advantage of this continued growth in sensor revenue, ABI Research believes that sensor suppliers should consider the following recommendations:
Following this strategic guidance should help sensor suppliers better prepare for the future opportunities that transformative technologies will bring.
For more insights and perspectives on manufacturing and the Industrial Internet, please check out ABI Research’s Smart Manufacturing Research Service.