A variety of hardware sensors are gaining traction in the mobile phone market, and these components will support the development of breakthrough applications and user interface experiences. This report studies eight sensor and sensory interface components which are rapidly becoming part of the handset architecture:
- Accelerometers
- Biometric sensors (fingerprint readers)
- Magnetometers (digital compasses)
- GPS chips
- Gyroscopes
- Haptics
- Pico projectors
- Pressure sensors
The study examines the technology behind these sensors, the factors driving their incorporation into the handset, the vendor landscape and the market opportunity. ARCchart concludes that the market for these handset components will grow substantially over the coming five years. Our forecast predicts that the combined shipments of these components will grow from 653 million units in 2009 to 4 billion by 2014. In terms of market value, we estimate that the revenue generated from the sale of these hardware sensors and sensory interfaces will more than triple by 2014, reaching $3.6 billion.
Topics of coverage include:
- Sensors – accelerometers, biometric, gps, gyroscopes, magnetometers, pressure sensors
- Sensory interfaces – haptics and pico projectors
- Sensor component market dynamics
- Key applications – augmented reality, gaming and navigation
- Market size and forecasts
- Vendor profiles
- Opportunities for mobile industry stakeholders
- Multi-sensor semiconductor combination
- Sensor usage in mobile applications
- Sensor penetration in smartphones and non-smartphones
- Industry recommendations
Companies mentioned, discussed or reviewed include:
3M
Aichi Steel
AKM
Analog Devices
Apple
Artificial Muscle
Atheros
AuthenTec
Avago
Bosch Sensortec
Broadcom
CSR
Electronics Arts
Freescale
Gameloft
Google
HoneyWell
|
Imagis
Immersion
Infinion
Intel
Kionix
LG
Light Blue Objects
Maxim
Memsic
Microsoft
Microvision
Motorola
Nokia
NTT DoCoMo
NXP
Orange
Qualcomm
|
RIM
Samsung
Sensitec
Sharp
SkyTraq
Sonavation
Sony Ericsson
ST-Ericsson
STMicroelectronics
Symbian
Synaptics
TAT
Texas Instruments
The Alloy
Verizon
Vodafone
|
Answers and opinions are provided with respect to the following
essential questions:
- What are the factors driving the uptake of each sensor?
- How fast will the rate of pico projector take-up be?
- How do different magnetometer technologies compare?
- What are the use-cases for fingerprint readers?
- What portion of smartphones will have integrated gyroscopes by 2014?
- How will the market value for MEMS sensors grow over the coming five years?
- Who are the main magnetometer vendors?
- What should component vendors be doing to remain competitive?
- Why should carriers be interested in handset sensors and sensory interfaces?
- Which regions will see the highest shipment of biometric-enabled phones?