Image sensor market will grow 3.9% through 2018

The image sensor market will grow between 2013 and 2018 – it won’t be huge, but it will be growth, according to the report Global Image Sensor Market (2013-2018), published in February by the Dallas-based MarketsandMarkets. The report predicts a modest compound annual growth rate of 3.9 percent, from $8 billion in 2012 to $10.75 billion in 2018.

The projections are based on the impact of cost-effective CMOS sensors, which have opened application areas including mobile phone cameras, tablet PC cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, CCTVs and surveillance cameras. CCD cameras are still used in many niche applications where higher performance is needed, the company said.

The majority of gross revenue came from the basic application segment of the image sensor market – consumer electronics, security and surveillance, medical imaging, defense and aerospace, industry, automotive, microscopy and document scanning equipment. Back-side illumination technology was a major supply-side market driver.

An overview of the global image sensors market from 2012-2018, in billions of dollars, subdivided by the geographic regions North America, Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe and rest of the world (ROW).

Health-care devices are the major drivers for the enterprise image sensor market, especially endoscopy, ophthalmology and digital radiology. High-volume endoscope image sensors are propelling the market and, although digital radiology is a low-volume application, the image sensors used are very costly, said Hrishikesh Deshpande of MarketsandMarkets.

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region share of the market most likely will increase steadily – at a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent – from 2013 to 2018, thanks to emerging market segments such as automotive, defense, aerospace and industrial, Deshpande said. Most sensor manufacturers and foundries are located in the APAC region; other market contributors such as technology developers and system integrators are based in the US.

The North American share is expected to remain about the same during the period. Although saturated markets in the US such as consumer electronics and surveillance are showing a negative trend, Deshpande said, the industrial, medical and defense sectors are growing.

The rest of the world (ROW) will see the highest growth, according to the report. Currently, the ROW image sensor market value is low compared with other regions, but emerging economies such as Brazil, South Africa, Argentina and the Middle East are expected to contribute more in the next couple of years. By 2018, the total value of the ROW region should be comparable to other regions, Deshpande said.