The European market for position sensors (Report 3689) technological improvements and advances in manufacturing to spur sales in position sensor markets

The European market for position sensors (Report 3689) technological improvements and advances in manufacturing to spur sales in position sensor markets

The European market for position sensors (Report 3689) technological improvements and advances in manufacturing to spur sales in position sensor markets

Keywords Position sensing

Technological evolution is the main driving force behind growth of the European position sensors market, valued at revenues worth US$924.0 million in 1998 and expected to rise to US$1.27 billion by the year 2005.

The European position sensors market has been established for many years with a number of novel technologies using optical and laser techniques developing more recently. Demand has remained high due to the drive towards increased efficiency, improved manufacturing techniques as a result of technological improvements and a decline in costs. Growth rates have risen annually over the last few years and, assisted by the expected increase in prices and sustained high demand levels, are expected to continue to rise.

According to Victoria Whiting, Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan, advances in manufacturing, product miniaturisation, greater acceptance of newer technologies and improved price-performance ratios represent further factors contributing to accelerating revenue growth in the total European market for position sensors.

"The move towards heightening product efficiency and efforts to reduce costs has resulted in increased factory automation especially in less advanced European markets," adds Andreas Themis, joint author of Frost & Sullivan's latest study.

Competition in the European position sensors market remains fierce and key competitive issues comprise price, product performance and the quality of sales service. Some companies are beginning to apply aggressive pricing strategies in order to maintain their share of the market, whilst others are focusing on offering comprehensive technical support and advice to find the best solution to meet their customers' needs.

Victoria Whiting continues: "Competition amongst the different technologies in the position sensors market can be quite intense.

"While magnetic, capacitive, inductive, ultrasonic, photoelectric and sometimes encoders can all compete for a number of proximity sensing applications, a high proportion of sensors are designed for specific applications and consequently specific niche markets. (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 The European Market for position sensors - percent of revenues by product type in 2005

"The different technologies offer different technical advantages and some are simpler and cheaper to produce and maintain. A good example of a technology losing market share to a competing technology is illustrated by the gains made by L/RVDTs (Inductive Position Sensors) over potentiometric position sensors" Victoria Whiting continues.

"Companies that are aiming to succeed in the future European position sensors market should begin to focus on providing improved services to their customers, offer highly competitive prices and undertake research and development to try to discover new applications for position detection. It is also becoming increasing essential for a company's product portfolio to include a range of quality standard sensors that fulfill the varying requirements of industries," says Andreas Themis.

Demand for advanced position sensors is rising amongst end-users for a widening variety of measurement, detection, inspection and control applications. These new sensor types claim to exhibit greater accuracy, reliability with minimal maintenance and easy installation.

Optoelectronic sensors - including photoelectric, fibre optic and laser technology -- accounted for the lion's share of overall revenues in the total position sensors market. Relatively new to the position sensors market, these use light beams in different wavelengths according to the application such as lasers that can detect smaller objects at large distances with greater accuracy whilst being unhindered by electromagnetic interference.

Substantial growth in unit shipments occurred due to high demand levels and greater awareness of the benefits of optoelectronic technology although revenue growth had been somewhat hampered by the price decline.

Ranking in second position is the market for inductive position sensors, which also includes linear variable differential transformers (LVDT), rotary variable differential transformers (RVDT) and variable-reluctance transducers, although the majority of revenues are derived from sales of inductive proximity sensors.

Growth in this market is being driven by the continuing high levels of demand, technological advancements characterising this sector, particularly in L/RVDTs, and the discovery of new applications for this type of position sensor.

Meanwhile in the encoders and resolvers market, overall market growth mainly derived from increases in sales of optical encoders, particularly rotary types.

ln its review of national markets, Frost & Sullivan's study confirms Germany's dominance, currently accounting for over 41.0 per cent. This is followed by France and the UK, accounting for a combined revenue share of over 25.0 per cent in 1998.

Report Code: 3689, Publication Date: January 1999, Price: US$3,950. Further information from Sullivan House, 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London SWIW ODH, UK. Tel: 44 (171) 915 7824; Fax: 44 (171) 730 3343, or Munchener Strasse 30, 60329 Frankfurt/Main Germany. Tel: 49 (69) 23 50 57; Fax: 49 (69) 23 45 66.