Position Sensors Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Photoelectric, Linear, Proximity, Rotary), By Application (Automotive, Military & Aerospace, Electronics & Semiconductors), And Segment Forecasts, 2012 - 2022

Report Overview

The global position sensors market is expected to be valued at $9.93 Billion By 2022 at a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. The growing adoption of integrated control systems in consumer electronics devices such as smartphones and tablets is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities over the forecast period. The emerging trend toward plant automation in process industries is generating high demand for position sensors. Stringent emission laws legislated in various European countries are encouraging the use of linear and rotary position sensors. These sensors play a crucial role in ensuring vehicle compliance with the slated emission riders. The industry is anticipated to witness growth owing to ongoing technological innovations in optical position sensors. This technology is leading to the development of smaller and more efficient chipsets and modules with added functions.

Escalating needs for implementation of high-speed precision control and measurement of the machines in manufacturing operations are expected to provide new growth avenues. The expansion of active vehicle safety to create an advanced driver assistance systems is estimated to augment industry growth.

Position Sensors Market Trends

Industry 4.0 has enabled the rapid expansion of advanced technologies, thereby motivating industry manufacturers to adopt automation of industrial processes. Industrial manufacturers across various regions are predominantly investing to improve their manufacturing infrastructure with the application of fully automated machine tools. For instance, according to IFR (International Federation of Robotics), in the year 2019, nearly 373,000 units of industrial robots were dispatched globally. In addition, a recent report of World Robotics 2020 Industrial Robots has mentioned a 12% increase in industrial robots functioning in factories worldwide which is a record of 2.7 million robots in total. The inclination of manufacturers toward automation has thus driven the growth of the position sensor market.

With constant development in technology and connecting networks, consumer electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets are now being equipped with wireless communications, localization technologies, and new sensory capabilities. The use of cutting-edge positioning-based systems has been increasingly made in such devices as they possess more processing memory and battery power. These positioning systems aid users in various application fields like tracking, healthcare, tourism, manufacturing, navigation, and personal security activities. The increased demand for such devices has offered major growth opportunities for the market.

Assembling or manufacturing a position sensor is done using numerous components, such as sensing rods, diagnostic light-emitting diodes (LEDs), position magnets, electronics housing fixtures, and connectors; which are delivered by various vendors. Thereby, high costs are associated with the manufacturing of the position sensor. The product profitability depends on the availability and cost of raw materials and components along with the time consumed till the launch of the end product in the market. Increasing manufacturing capabilities, providing improved quality products, and reducing the overall cost of production are the major challenges faced by the companies functioning in this segment.

A position sensor can profile width, gap, edge, bend, angle, surface, and height along with other crucial parameters. In addition, it is also capable of detecting, measuring, and evaluating profiles on different object surfaces. Thus, manufacturing sensors with a high degree of accuracy is essential to fulfilling industry requirements. However, less customization and low accuracy of sensors are hampering the market growth.

Technology Insights

Technology segments analyzed in the study include photoelectric, linear, proximity, rotary, and others. Proximity sensors market accounted for over 25% of the global revenue share in 2014 and is expected to continue being the dominant segment in terms of industry size by 2019.

Photoelectric sensors are expected to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period. Increasing demand for sensor-based data and information-based manufacturing from production line machinery is expected to augment the demand for photoelectric sensors.

Linear and proximity sensors are expected to emerge as a promising segment over the forecast period owing to the wider adoption of proximity sensors in smartphones to detect the accidental touch screen taps. Moreover, proximity sensors have become important data acquisition devices in automation to provide information in the form of individual process variables to controllers.

Wide implementation of proximity and linear sensors in packaging machinery to detect the presence and position of various components is estimated to traction the demand for these sensors over the forecast period.

Application Insights

The industry has been classified based on application into military & aerospace, electronics & semiconductors, packaging, and others. Other applications include assembly & robotics, R&D, medical equipment applications. The automotive segment accounted for over 45% of the global revenue share in 2014 and is expected to continue to be the prevailing segment by 2022.

Automotive and electronics & semiconductors sectors are expected to emerge as promising application sectors over the forecast period. Rising need for position sensing in steering wheel position, throttle controlling, automatic gear selection, and managing vehicle stability is expected to drive the demand for automotive applications.

The modern aerospace industry requires highly-complex products with an extremely high proportion of electronic components and maximum safety requirements. This has resulted in the demand for complex development and production processes. Such production process requires contactless sensing technology, thereby spurring the industry demand in the aerospace application.

Regional Insights

Being a lucrative industry for consumer electronics devices such as smartphones and laptops, as well as a promising regional sector for industrial manufacturing, the Asia Pacific position sensor market contributed to over 35% of the overall revenue in 2014.

Outsourcing of manufacturing activities to low-cost developing countries in Asia is expected to witness strong demand for high-quality precision equipment and sensors in this region. Robust development of the manufacturing sector and tremendous appetite for new machine tools in the Chinese market are expected to boost regional growth over the next seven years.
Proximity to the U.S. market and free trade agreements with the U.S., Canada, Japan, and the European Union have propelled the packaging machinery manufacturers to start manufacturing and assembly of components in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. This has resulted in the high adoption of position sensors in the Latin American region. Rising trends towards the adoption of wireless sensor technology are further expected to trigger industry growth in North America and Europe.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The global position sensors company market share is mainly occupied by key competitors such as Sensata Technologies, Honeywell International, Inc., Sick AG, and Heidenhain. These players are involved in collectively striving to make position sensors a part of varied electronic devices and simplify its integration in various systems. Moving consumer preferences from contact to non-contact position sensing technologies are enabling key players to offer innovative contactless sensors. For instance, Honeywell International offers a broad range of SMART position sensors that provides non-contact angular position sensing. Companies are also focusing on developing strategic partnerships and acquisitions to gain a competitive advantage. For instance, in December 2015, Sensata Technologies announced the acquisition of Custom Sensors& Technologies. The acquisition further extends Sensata’s sensing portfolio beyond automotive markets.

Recent Developments

• In January 2022, Allegro Microsystems, LLC released the A33230 3D sine/cosine Hall-effect position sensor IC. It's the world's smallest 3D sine/cosine sensor, offering system designers a low-cost option for automotive and industrial applications

• In April 2022 - Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. created a new micro position sensor with a 12.7 mm outer diameter that offers more accuracy and resolution than rival devices of the same size, as well as increased dependability and longevity in demanding military and industrial working conditions

• In 2021, ElastiSense launched a new 2.0 version of the DS-series displacement sensor

• In August 2020, Voxtel, Inc, a privately held firm specializing in sophisticated photonic and 3D imaging technology, including long-range, eye-safe Light Detection and Ranging, has been acquired by Allegro MicroSystems (LiDAR). Voxtel's laser and imaging capabilities will be combined with Allegro's automotive leadership and scalability to enable the next generation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

Some of the prominent players operating in the global position sensors market include:

• Balluff GmbH

• Banner Engineering

• Bourns, Inc

• CTS Corporation

• Heidenhain

• Honeywell International, Inc.

• iFM Efector, Inc.

• Keyence Corporation

• Leuze Electronics GmbH + Co. KG

• Optek Technology

• Schneider Electric SA

• Sensata Technologies

• Sick AG

• Siemens AG

• Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

Recent Developments

• In July 2023, Bourns, Inc. acquired the fuel level sensor product line of CTS Corporation. Adding Bourn’s sensors to CTS’s product line provides advanced sensor solutions to Bourn’s transportation customers.

• In February 2023, CTS acquired maglab AG innovator in Electric Vehicle Sensors. This acquisition provided additional abilities in sensors and electric motor control technologies.

• In May 2021, Bourns, Inc launched Bourns® Model DMS22B a non-contacting feedback rotary sensor featured with Synchronous Serial Interface (SSI). This enables excellent performance and high reliability and is suitable for a range of applications.

Position Sensors Market Report Scope

Position Sensors Market Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the latest trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2012 to 2022. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the antipsychotic drugs market on the basis of technology, application, and region:

• Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • Photoelectric

  • Linear

  • Proximity

  • Rotary

  • Others

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • Automotive

  • Military & Aerospace

  • Electronics & Semiconductors

  • Packaging

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • U.K.

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

    • Japan

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

  • MEA