A position sensor is referred to a device that is utilized for measuring the distance traveled by a body beginning from its reference point. The device measures the linear or angular position in reference to a fixed position. It can also be used for detecting the presence and absence of object.

Position sensors are the most utilized sensors among varied end-use industry verticals. With the utilization of varied sensing technologies, the position sensors are used in applications such as automotive, motorsport, automation, industrial sector, medical applications, aerospace, and many more. The increasing trend of industrial automation is providing strong growth prospects for the market to thrive with the growing significance of sensors in industries that make processes fully automatic providing exceptional service. Position sensors are used for motion control of robots, to tank-level sensing. They are also utilized for precise positioning of objects at nanometre level, also, used for measuring precision thickness of disk drives, assembly line testing, and machine tool metrology among other numerous applications. With the increasing shipments of robots in industries are further propelling the growth of industrial automation, fueling the position sensor market demand. As per the UNCTAD, Trade and Development Report, 2017, the annual installation of industrial robots in the world increased from 120.6 thousand units in 2010 to 253.7 thousand units in 2015. Furthermore, with industrial automation offering high benefits by reducing production costs through the reduction of errors, and contributing to raising scalability, the market is propelled to grow at a significant pace in the coming years.

Source: UNCTAD, 2017, Trade and Development Report, global annual installation of industrial robots, in thousands of units

With the growing medical industry, position sensors are used in medical devices, offering significant market growth prospects. For example, medical devices utilizing position sensors include MRI scanners, prosthetics, ultrasound equipment, and automated laboratory equipment and many more. The growing number of diseases worldwide will continue to augment the market growth with the installation of position sensors while manufacturing medical devices for various diagnostic and treatment purposes worldwide. This has led to the deployment of sophisticated medical equipment round the globe, further propelling the market growth as well. As per the OECD stats, in 2017, Japan installed the highest number of MRI scanners per 1,000,000 inhabitants, with 55.21 MRI units/million population. One of the major reasons involve the highest geriatric population in the world.

Source: OECD, MRI Units per 1,000,000 inhabitants, 2017

The growing adoption of wearables devices is further providing an impetus in fueling the position sensor market growth in the forecast period. This is attributed to the fact that consumers are in constant need for real-time insights. Also, the growing trend of adoption of IoT and smart mobile devices are offering high growth prospects for the manufacturers to escalate the development of wearable devices, further proliferating the market growth at a notable CAGR. The use of wearables ranges from consumer wearable electronic devices that assist in well-being of an individual to medical wearable devices in order to keep a constant check on patient vital parameters during the treatment process or post-treatment. With the growth of sensing technologies, the global wearable industry will also continue to increase with the soaring demand for accurate real-time information. In sports sector, advancements in technology have enabled wearables to track functional movements, workload, biomechanical and bio-vital markers by the use of sensors, this has further helped in maximizing performance of an individual and minimizing the level of injuries. These wearable monitoring systems further aid in providing continuous physical data and help in the development of player-specific treatment plans and training programmes. Thus, the convergence of semiconductor technology, physiology, and predictive health information have provided wearables an opportunity to strengthen its clinical and translational utility for sports.

The manufacturing sector is the hardest-hit sector due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus globally. This has put a strong impact on the sale of position sensors as well, as these sensors are utilized in the manufacturing of products. The virus originated in China and disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for other regions of the world. This is due to the fact that the majority of the factories supplying raw materials are located in China, and as the country is one of the major manufacturers of semiconductor devices, this will definitely put an impact on market growth in the current year. The lockdown measures led to the shut down of manufacturing facilities, further impacting the market growth as well. The United Nations predicted that the current novel coronavirus outbreak is likely to cause global FDI to decrease by around 5 to 15% owing to the downfall in the manufacturing sector worldwide along with the shutting down of factories.

Geographically, the Asia Pacific region is accounted for holding a significant market share in the global position sensor market. The growing trend of automation in industries along with the setting-up of manufacturing plants in the APAC region is contributing to the market growth. In addition, the increasing demand for consumer electronics is further providing an impetus in fueling the market growth in the region, specifically, in the emerging economies of India and China.

Furthermore, the demand for position sensors is soaring with the surge of the aerospace and defense industry. It has been widely observed that all the modern aircraft flight control systems are fly-by-computer systems. These computers, known as flight management computer, FMC, receive command signal by position sensors that are mounted on the control column pedals and thrust levers for actuating movement of the flight control surfaces and provide power to engines. The position sensors utilized are high specification contactless LVDT, i.e. Linear Variable Differential Transformer. These are preferred due to their long-operational life and are reliable in extreme operating conditions. Hence, the market is propelled to grow at a significant pace with increasing investments in the defense sector as the security threats continue to intensify. Moreover, the presence of companies involved in designing and manufacturing of position sensors for various aircraft applications that include primary and secondary flight control is further providing an impetus in burgeoning the market growth.   

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Vibha Saklani is a Market Research Analyst at KSI, working on the estimates and global reports on multiple industries spanning from IoT to food and beverages, with a special knack for healthcare, medical devices, and related markets. With the addition of her formal education in Biotechnology and having a research background, she is able to shed more light on the detailed analysis of the story. To read more articles by her, and for more information regarding multiple global markets, visit www.knowledge-sourcing.com.

With the rapid development of the automobile industry, the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has become a prime focus of auto manufacturers as energy crisis and environmental pollution have become prominent evils in social development. On the other hand, advancement in technologies such as energy, IoT (Internet of Things), and electronics and their deep integration with automobile manufacturing has further boosted the development of highly efficient and environmental-friendly new energy vehicles (NEVs). Although in the short and medium term, plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles are going to enjoy the growing market share of electric vehicles in the global automotive industry, the pure electric drive technology including battery and fuel cell will be the ideal technology in the long-term, providing direction for the future of new energy vehicles. NEVs (new energy vehicles) are vehicle which are partially or fully powered by electricity. New energy vehicles can be broadly classified into four categories: pure electric vehicles (battery electric vehicles), hybrid vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and solar electric vehicles. The below figure depicts the market size of global NEV taxi market for the year 2019 and 2025:

New Energy Vehicle (Nev) Taxi Market Size, Us$ Billion, 2019 and 2025

Source: Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence Analysis

Faced with increasingly serious energy and environmental problems, many developed as well as developing countries or regions have begun to seek industrial transformation by way of reducing the production of fuel vehicles with an agenda of new energy vehicles phasing out the conventional energy vehicles. For this, countries have implemented several policies and initiatives to ramp up the adoption of new energy vehicles. For instance, the United States encourages people to buy new energy vehicles through the establishment of supporting facilities such as charging stations, electricity fee reduction and the provision of driving and parking facilities for people owning NEVs. Germany, as the well-established powerhouse in the global automobile industry, has also announced that it will ban the sale of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles from 2030 or so. France has also plans to ban all sales of fuel cars by 2040 as a part of its agenda to achieve carbon balance by 2050 and become a carbon-neutral country.

However, the major driver of the global NEV taxi market is the implementation of policies and measures in China which has attached a great importance to the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) as a national strategy. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) finalized the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) mandate policy on September 27, 2017. This policy is a modified version of California’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, aiming at the promotion of new energy vehicles (NEVs) while providing additional compliance flexibility to the existing fuel consumption regulation. This policy applies only to passenger cars and formally took effect on April 1, 2018. China has now become the largest market for new energy vehicles (NEVs), accounting for 50.40 per cent of the global NEV volume sold in 2017, followed by the United States with a share of 17.3 per cent, according to the statistics provided by the Internal Energy Agency and Huajin Securities Research Institute.

New Energy Vehicle (Nev) Sales Volume in China, in Million Units, 2011-2017

Source: Electric Vehicle (EV) sales and the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)

One of China's major cities, Shenzhen reached an environmental milestone, with 99 per cent of the 21,689 taxi fleet being entirely electric-powered in 2018. These electric taxis are equipped with an on-board terminal which shows where taxis are in short supply, such as the airport, train station or any other location. It also clearly displays the fare as well as the route, which help prevent drivers from overcharging or taking a round-about route. According to the city’s transport committee, Shenzhen's 20,000-plus electric taxis are projected to reduce carbon emissions by about 850,000 tons a year. The high-tech hub southern China still had 7,500 gasoline-powered taxis on the road during the same year although electric ones far outnumbered them. The northern China city of Taiyuan was the only city in the country which had electric taxis since 2016. Shenzhen is one of the pilot cities promoting alternative and sustainable-energy public transport in order to reduce smog. While Beijing and other cities in China are served by massive fleet of electric scooters, bicycles and three-wheeled delivery vehicles that help reduce emissions, Shenzhen’s bus-fleet has been all-electric since 2017. The city also invested heavily on the expansion of network of about 20,000 public charging stations to support the use of NEV taxi fleet since the lack of charging station infrastructure is the major hurdle in the growing adoption of NEVs across different regions and countries.

With the rapid rise in the adoption of new energy vehicles, the development of various ancillary supporting facilities is still the key challenge to the NEV market. Infrastructure construction is a necessary prerequisite for the large-scale application of new energy vehicles across the globe. That is, further rise in sales of NEVs does require heavy investment in the charging station infrastructure for the large-scale operation of new energy vehicles (NEVs). This not only requires huge capital investment but also large areas of land within the heavily-congested urban structure which is another great challenge in itself, thus acting as a constraint for the NEV taxi market growth.

To sum up, with the global standards of vehicle emissions becoming more and more stringent, the development of new energy vehicles is also becoming more and more important around the world. However, many technologies still need to be incorporated and many practical factors that are still hindering the growth of NEV market still need to be tackled in order to realize the all-round adoption of NEVs in the near future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anjali Joshi is a senior market research analyst at Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence. She oversees a team of analysts and is known for the quality of market intelligence she delivers to the clients which range from start-ups and Non-profit Organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Anjali’s keen understanding of international business and market dynamics, coupled with her years of experience working in this industry, allows her to analyse current and future trends across both global and clients’ target markets and help them in making informed decisions.

Electronic waste or E-waste is referred to all the consumer electronic equipment that has served its purpose. This may contain materials like circuit boards or chips. Additionally, TV, computers, keyboards, kitchen appliances, lab electronic equipment, and broken CRTs fall under this category.

Electronic waste management is necessary as the e-waste contain heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, copper, and chromium that may cause contamination to the environment. Hence, there is a requirement for e-waste management, propelling the market growth. The market is further projected to grow at a significant pace due to the growing consumption of consumer electronics. The Asia Pacific region is projected to account for holding a substantial market share in the global consumer electronics industry, particularly, in the emerging economies of China and India. This is supported by the growing adoption of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and iPads, further raising strong demand for electronic waste (e-waste) management, contributing to fueling the growth of the electronic waste management market.

Additionally, owing to the affordability of these devices, consumers are keenly interested in trying new brands with novel and innovative features. In addition, the introduction of advanced technologies like 4G and 5G are contributing to faster communication, further providing an impetus in surging the growth prospects of sale of these mobile devices. As per the United Nations, ITU agency, by the end of 2017, it was estimated that the mobile-based subscriptions will reach a figure of 4.3 billion at the global level. In the least developing countries (LDC), the highest growth-rate of mobile broadband subscriptions was recorded between 2012 and 2017. However, mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in LDCs were accounted to remain the lowest, i.e. around 23%.

Source: The United Nations ITU Agency, mobile subscriptions in least developed countries between 2012-2017

Additionally, with the growing global internet penetration rate, the adoption of mobile devices will continue to soar, propagating the market demand. As per the United Nations prediction, the internet-user gender gap has tapered in most of the regions of the world since 2013. However, it was noticed that the internet penetration is still slightly higher in men than women. The internet penetration rate worldwide for men accounted for around 50% share, while for women, it accounted for holding a share of around 44% in 2017. On the other hand, in the Americas region, it was noticed that the proportion of women utilizing internet was higher than men.

Source: The United Nations, global internet penetration rate, by gender, 2017

With new technologies emerging in the market such as smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home, the market is projected to augment. Also, the advent of home automation is further offering an opportunity for the electronic waste management market growth with the adoption of smart home monitoring and security systems. These systems consist of carbon monoxide detectors, smart switches, and smart locks and doorbells among others. The growing trend of energy efficiency and IoT implementation will continue to propel the growth of smart homes, further contributing to surging the market growth. For instance, in order to increase the energy efficiency of a house, blinds are capable of closing automatically by connecting to the home’s tech ecosystem. This will enable the blinds to open and close as per the incoming weather information and the internal temperature. Thus, smart homes offer convenience to residents, this is due to the fact that with connected devices, residents are capable of handling more operations such as lighting and temperature, and hence, this sets a resident free for performing other tasks. Also, with the help of internet, a person is capable of controlling an electrical appliance or appliances in a virtual manner through a web browser. With smart home technologies gaining momentum at present and in the coming years, a huge potential for the market to thrive is being realized.

The current covid-19 scenario has impacted the market growth severely owing to causing an adverse impact on the consumer electronics industry, which is the soul of the e-waste management market. The rapid outbreak of the virus globally has led to delay in the launch of novel electronic devices due to the shut down of the manufacturing operations worldwide. This outbreak brought in a severe crisis in the major economies of the world that include China, the United States, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and many other countries. Majority of these nations followed preventive measures like national lockdown, social distancing, work-from-home and self-quarantine initiatives. In many parts of the world, the government advised people and companies to implement work-from-home. This further led to travel restrictions, closure of local businesses and prohibited public gatherings. Due to the spread of novel coronavirus, the manufacturers of electronic products have ceased the further production of novel electronic goods, thus, causing an impact on the market growth as well. This is further going to impact the upcoming production of the new electronic devices, further causing an impact on the business opportunities in electronics manufacturing as vendors are moving to the adoption of remote working. Also, with the closure of brick and mortar retail channels, like supermarkets, and showrooms, the sales of electronic items have affected in an adverse manner.

In order to combat this situation, companies are taking certain initiatives like relocation of the factories for a definite period of time. For example, Samsung, in March 2020, made an announcement regarding the shifting of its smartphone production to Vietnam from the South Korean region as the company’s staff tested positive for coronavirus, leading to temporary closure the factory in Gumi.

Furthermore, with the growing technological advancements, like the wireless earbuds, smartwatches, and other wearables, and drones, the market is projected to fuel in the coming years. The major reason lies in the fact that the consumers are increasingly evolving, in terms of knowledge, income, and their way of performing different tasks that involve the utilization of electronic machines or gadgets. This has further resulted in bringing connectivity in their everyday lives and is providing huge opportunities for the manufacturers to introduce advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence in varied electronic products for smart performance of their e-products. In addition, with continuous improvements in the existing technologies as per the consumers’ demands, the market is poised to grow at an unprecedented rate in the coming years. These devices will require efficient waste management practices providing a minimum impact on the environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Vibha Saklani is a Market Research Analyst at KSI, working on the estimates and global reports on multiple industries spanning from IoT to food and beverages, with a special knack for healthcare, medical devices, and related markets. With the addition of her formal education in Biotechnology and having a research background, she is able to shed more light on the detailed analysis of the story. To read more articles by her, and for more information regarding multiple global markets, visit https://www.knowledge-sourcing.com.

There has been a continuous advancement is vehicle features to make it safer and better for passengers while avoiding road crashes and fatalities. Although improvements in passive safety features such as seat belts, lighting, and air bags have resulted in reduced rate of road crashes, fatalities, and injuries, still there are rising cases of road accidents due to driver’s lack of attention and other reasons. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.35 million people die in road accidents annually. This costs, most countries, 3 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP), causing loss of human life as well as public property.

As such, automotive manufacturers are constantly adding innovative features in various auto models to make them safe and secure. Vehicle daytime running lamps are one such feature which is coming in-built in various models. These are generally low-wattage headlights that turn on automatically when a vehicle’s ignition is started. It is a type of safety feature which is aimed to reduce multiple-vehicle crashes during daylight hours by making vehicles more visible to other drivers. Daytime running lights ensure that the car is visible even in the extreme climatic conditions such as dense rain and foggiest weather. By increasing the visibility of vehicles, daytime running lamps reduce the chances of vehicle collision and fatalities. Numerous studies have shown that with daytime running light equipped in the vehicle, the chances of having an accident during blurred vision weather conditions reduce to a significant rate. For example, in Denmark, there was a decline in left turn-related incidents of over 37 per cent. Around 20 per cent of traffic accidents in the EU region were prevented, thanks to daylight running light.  

Furthermore, governments in various countries across the globe have implemented regulations that require the mandatory use of vehicle daytime running lights. This is significantly bolstering the market growth of vehicle daytime running lamps. According to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act in Canada, all vehicles sold or imported into the country after December 1, 1989, must have automatic daytime running lights. Transport Canada advises that all road users in Nova Scotia, including visitors, must have either daytime running lights (DRLs) or low beam headlamps on during daytime hours with full lights must be on both in case of dark (night) or in poor visibility. The government in Japan has implemented the regulation which requires automatic headlights on all new cars sold from April 2020 onward. Drivers in Thailand and Malaysia also fully support the use of vehicle daytime running lights because they can see other drivers from far away, thus reducing the chances of vehicle collisions.

Global Vehicle Daytime Running Lamps Market Size, Us$ Billion, 2019 and 2025

Source: Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence Analysis

Global auto manufacturers are also supporting the use of vehicle daytime running lamps as an important safety feature in vehicles by manufacturing models with in-built daytime running lights even when many countries, including the United States, have still not mandated their use. In the world’s most powerful country, there is no national regulation which requires automotive companies to manufacture vehicles with daytime running lights and drivers are also not required to use vehicle headlights unless it is dark, or during bad weather conditions. Only some U.S. states have laws which require turning on the headlights in conditions that call for wipers.

However, the current restraining factor for the growth of global vehicle daytime running lamps is the declining production of automotive industry. The production in this sector has been witnessing some disruption over some time, with production declined from 96,869,020 units in 2018 to 91,786,861 units in 2019, witnessing a fall of 5.2 per cent during the period, according to the statistics provided by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA).

Global Automotive Production, 2011 to 2019

Source: International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA)

This fall in the production of vehicles was primarily attributed to shrinking automotive sales worldwide which is expected to continue over the medium term. This decline in sales is attributed to factors such as heavy traffic congestion, poor quality roads, lack of parking slot availability, declining resale value of cars, and expensive vehicle ownership. However, the major reason for this stagnating sales of cars is the emergence of ride-hailing services, with companies like Uber and Ola taking up the market share. People are increasingly opting for these services in order to avoid stress while driving in congested roads and traffic. With people in heavily congested urban areas preferring taking taxis or ride hailing services to commute rather than owning and driving themselves, the sales of automobiles, especially passenger cars, have declined drastically which has ultimately affected the production level as well. Moreover, the recent COVID-19 global pandemic outbreak has further negatively impacted the growth of the global automotive sector. Temporary halt in production due to shut down of production facilities and global supply chain disruption on account of closing of borders by countries in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus has also resulted in a further weakening of the global automotive industry. Nationwide lockdowns and social distancing measures has restricted the production in factories which has severely impacted the global automotive sector. Since a major share of the global automobile manufacturing heavily or solely relies on China for auto parts and components, global supply chain disruption caused by this pandemic has further forced automakers to halt their production. Global auto giants including General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler temporarily closed down their facilities across different regions as part of their effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anjali Joshi is a senior market research analyst at Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence. She oversees a team of analysts and is known for the quality of market intelligence she delivers to the clients which range from start-ups and Non-profit Organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Anjali’s keen understanding of international business and market dynamics, coupled with her years of experience working in this industry, allows her to analyse current and future trends across both global and clients’ target markets and help them in making informed decisions.