Global IoT Microcontroller Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Type (32-bit, 16-bit, and 8-bit), By Application, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022 - 2028
The Global IoT Microcontroller Market size is expected to reach $9.9 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 13.0% CAGR during the forecast period.
A microcontroller is a sort of processor that combines memory, CPU, and input/output peripherals into a single integrated circuit. Microcontrollers can be found in office machinery, remote controls, household power tools, appliances, toys, and a variety of other embedded systems that are automatically controlled. Microcontroller technology ensures that electronic equipment are managed smoothly as well as they significantly eliminate errors. Microcontrollers are anticipated to gain popularity in the communication, automotive, retail, and other industries as a result of the advantages of this technology. Consumer products, automotive market growth, and increased acceptance of innovative technologies like touch screens and timers, among other things, are majorly contributing to the IoT microcontroller market's growth.
Microcontrollers, often called microcontroller units (MCUs), are miniaturized computers with processing capability. The computing capability of smart connected devices and IoT is determined by these units. Microcontrollers are now used in a wide range of IoT products and devices, including consumer electronics, power tools, smart automotive engine controls, office equipment, medical devices, and a slew of other applications. Home automation, industrial automation, smart appliances, smart cities, smart grids, and other applications are all seeing rapid adoption of the Internet of Things. The development of high-performance microcontrollers is becoming increasingly crucial as the number of connected systems and devices grows around the world.
With the growing significance of interconnectivity, the Internet of Things is gaining traction and demand in various industries. A memory, a core processor, and programmable input and output peripherals make up an SoC, or, system-on-chip. For improved performance, a small component of a random-access memory is also included in a microcontroller in many circumstances. In addition, blood glucose monitors, wearable heart rate monitors, and retinal implants also utilize IoT microcontroller-integrated devices with lower battery capacities to monitor patients through wireless technologies for ultimate transfer to storage based on the cloud or on any connected device, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Because of their low power consumption, MCU-embedded analog peripheral devices are becoming increasingly popular, opening up new avenues for the ultra-low-power microcontroller market.
COVID-19 Impact
The COVID-19 led the world to a very critical environment in terms of economy and healthcare. Many businesses were demolished due to the advent of this pandemic. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic also caused a significant inconvenience in the day-to-day life of people across the world. The major factor that led the market to a downfall was the lockdown that was enforced by the government with the purpose to regulate the diffusion of the infection. Due to the lockdown, the manufacturing units of various goods, including retail cooler, went under a temporary closure. The supply chain of the product was substantially hampered.
Market Growth Factors
Increasing adoption of 32-bit microcontrollers across healthcare and medical devices
The demand for the 32-bit microcontroller is constantly increasing in various healthcare facilities all over the world. Numerous medical applications of the 32-bit microcontroller are employing 32-bit microcontrollers in comparison to others. 32-bit microcontroller refers to the microcontroller, which comprises the ability to handle 32-bit value arithmetic operation. These type of microcontrollers uses lesser instruction cycles to implement a function due to their broader data bus. When compared to other MCUs on the market, 32-bit Microcontroller Units give various intuitive advantages like high scalability, low power consumption, as well as higher Input/Output peripherals with a reduced size. It can do high-end operations with great accuracy and reduced computational cycles, making it more suitable for use in high-precision healthcare and medical devices.
Growing utilization of electronic content in the automotive industry
Microcontrollers are utilized in a variety of vehicle electronics, including in-vehicle infotainment, instrument clusters, systems, telematics, and modern safety systems. The penetration of MCUs across the automotive market will be boosted by rising trends of AI-enabled voice assistance, Advanced driver assistance development, and self-driving cars by key automotive OEMs. To achieve a competitive advantage in the market, companies are working heavily on developing automotive-grade MCUs with enhanced functionality. Moreover, the demand for luxury vehicles is constantly surging due to the rising disposable income of people all over the world. IoT microcontrollers are substantially being used in the industrial automation sector to facilitate various industrial processes.
Market Restraining Factors
Complexities in designing cutting-edge IoT microcontrollers
The IoT microcontroller industry is tremendously rising due to a variety of factors and an increasing number of applications. However, there are certain barriers that are hindering the demand for IoT microcontrollers. One of the major drawbacks of IoT controllers is the complications in the designing and development of these devices. Design complexity in high-speed as well as power-critical applications can majorly impede the production of IoT microcontrollers. As a result, manufacturers are spending significant amounts in R&D to develop cutting-edge microcontrollers. Due to the higher investment in these research and development activities, a considerable number of small and medium organizations would become unable to employ IoT microcontrollers.
Type Outlook
Based on Type, the market is segmented into 32-bit, 16-bit, and 8-bit. In 2021, the 8-bit segment witnessed a significant revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. 8-bit microcontrollers are extensively being utilized for low-power applications such as smart wearables and connected devices. The growing preference for fitness wearables, particularly among millennials, is expected to drive the adoption of wearables. Lifestyle disorders, such as obesity, prompt individuals to pursue various fitness-related activities and monitor their performance using wearables, which is expected to propel the market growth of the segment over the forecasting years.
Application Outlook
Based on Application, the market is segmented into Consumer Electronics (Smartphones, Wearables, and Others), Industrial Automation, Smart Homes, and Others. In 2021, the consumer electronic segment procured the largest revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. The consumer electronics segment encompasses smartphones, wearables, and others. The COVID-19 outbreak compelled the employees to work remotely. This has further triggered the demand for smart wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. Increasing fitness and health awareness among millennials is also likely to spur wearables sales, which is expected to continue in the near future. Therefore, the adoption of low-power MCUs coupled with short-range wireless connectivity, especially 8-bit integrated with Bluetooth/KNX/Zigbee/Wi-Fi-based protocols, is expected to drive the IoT MCUs sales over the forecast period.
Regional Outlook
Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2021, the Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest revenue share of the IoT microcontrollers market. The increasing growth of the market is primarily driven by China, India, and Japan which accounted for considerable sales across the region. This can be ascribed to increasing demand for smart wearables and favorable government spending to promote smart cities initiatives. The recent Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement with China and ASEAN countries coupled with the increase in disposable income among emerging economies such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia are expected to develop affordable smart home devices among the consumers, which would eventually drive the market growth.
The major strategies followed by the market participants are Product Launches. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Texas Instruments, Inc. is the major forerunner in the IoT Microcontroller Market. Companies such as STMicroelectronics N.V., Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V. are some of the key innovators in the Market.
The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Silicon Laboratories, Inc., Espressif Systems Shanghai Co Ltd., Holtek Semiconductor, Inc., Renesas Electronics Corporation, STMicroelectronics N.V., Infineon Technologies AG, Texas Instruments, Inc., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Nuvoton Technology Corporation, and Microchip Technology, Inc.
Recent strategies deployed in IoT Microcontroller Market
Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements:
Feb-2022: Infineon came into a partnership with SensiML, a leader in developing AI tools. Following this partnership, SensiML would offer a complete ML/AI solution for the PSoC 6 product line of Infineon along with compatible sensors. Moreover, this partnership would integrate the Analytics Toolkit AI development software of SensiML with the ModusToolbox of Infineon.
Oct-2021: Infineon teamed up with Picovoice, the developer of a voice recognition technology. Following this collaboration, the companies would introduce an end-to-end voice platform together in order to integrate AI into edge devices. Moreover, this solution would leverage Infineon’s PSoC 6 microcontrollers in order to enable smart voice solutions across ultra-low-power IoT devices.
Oct-2021: STMicroelectronics entered into an agreement with Sierra Wireless, a leading provider of IoT services. This agreement aimed to allow the STM32 microcontroller users to utilize Sierra Wireless' edge-to-cloud solutions and flexible cellular IoT connectivity. The agreement would assist solution developers tackle the diverse challenges included with developing and implementing IoT solutions, consisting enrollment with a cellular network, device design & development, and connection to cloud services, allowing a quicker time-to-market.
Jul-2021: Microchip partnered with SensiML, a SaaS analytics toolkit. With this partnership, the company aimed to facilitate the development of AI code for smart consumers, industrial, and commercial edge Internet-of-Things applications. In addition, this partnership would enable embedded developers to leverage Microchip's microcontrollers.
Mar-2021: Nuvoton partnered with Winbond and Qinglianyun. This partnership aimed to offer a trusted execution environment for secure OTA firmware updates. The device would operate on TinyTEE of Qinglianyun secure software stack in TrustZone-protected hardware.
Jan-2021: Silicon Labs joined hands with Edge Impulse, a leader in the development of a platform for machine learning on edge devices. Under this collaboration, the companies would allow rapid development and deployment of machine learning on EFM32 microcontrollers and EFR32 wireless SoCs of Silicon Labs.
Sep-2020: Microchip entered into a partnership with Cartesian, Motion Gestures, and Edge Impulse. With this partnership, the companies aimed to streamline the deployment of ML across the edge using ARM Cortex-based 32-bit microprocessors and micro-controllers. in its MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment.
Mar-2020: Microchip came into a partnership with Sequans, a provider and developer of 4G and 5G chips. This partnership aimed to make significant IoT a reality by offering a simple and powerful IoT development environment, which integrates microprocessor capabilities in 5G IoT connectivity.
Mar-2020: NXP joined hands with Sequans, a fabless company that markets integrated circuits for 4G mobile phone technology. Following this partnership, the companies aimed to introduce LTE for IoT connectivity into the microcontroller ecosystem of NXP by integrating Sequans’ Monarch NB01Q and GM01Q with NXP’s LPC5500 series microcontroller.
Mar-2020: STMicroelectronics teamed up with Truphone. a GSMA accredited global mobile network. Following this collaboration, the company aimed to introduce a full-stack eSIM infrastructure solution, which would also comply with GSMA Machine-to-Machine standards for automotive and Industrial IoT customers.
Product Launches and Product Expansions:
Sep-2021: Renesas launched RX140, a 32-bit line of microcontrollers. The new product range aimed to deliver seamless performance along with the operation of up to 48 MHz with a CoreMark score of 204, nearly twice of the RX130 group's performance. Moreover, the RX140 MCUs is built on robust RXv2 CPU core of Renesas.
Aug-2021: Espressif Systems launched ESP32-H2, an IEEE 802.15.4 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE capable single-core RISC-V SoC. The new product would serve as the foundation for various Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network protocols such as Thread, 6LoWPAN, and Zigbee.
May-2021: Infineon introduced a new feature in ModbusToolbox. This news feature would assist developers bring ML into embedded IoT devices. In addition, the product would fill a critical gap between designing embedded systems and writing ML. Additionally, the new product would offer software libraries, middleware, and special tools for developers to examine and implement ML models based on deep learning on PSoC microcontrollers of Infineon.
Feb-2021: STMicroelectronics launched STM32U5, a new line of extreme power-saving microcontrollers. Through this launch, the company aimed to fulfill the demand for performance and power for smart applications.
Jan-2021: Espressif introduced ESP32-S3, an addition to its ubiquitous IoT microcontroller product range. With this launch, the company aimed to offer ESP32-S3's vector instructions advantages in the MCU. In addition, this would accelerate signal processing and neural networks loads.
Oct-2020: Microchip released WFI32E01PC, a Wi-Fi microcontroller module of Microchip. The new product is pre-provisioned for cloud platforms and complies with Wi-Fi Alliance specifications, Moreover, the WFI32E01PC is fully certified by various regulatory agencies of the world.
May-2020: NXP unveiled KW39, KW38, and KW37 MCUs. The new product is aimed to offer impeccable migration with software, hardware, and tools compatibility with the recent KW34/35/36 devices.
Feb-2020: NXP rolled out JN5188 and JN5189 IEEE 802.15.4 wireless microcontrollers. The new products would offer ultra-low power connected intelligence for Thread applications and Zigbee 3.0. These devices are powered by an Arm Cortex-M4 running at 48MHz and consist of upto 640KB of onboard flash and 152KB SRAM, offering storage space and flexibility for complicated applications and software over-the-air (OTA) updates. Such new JN wireless MCUs come with fully enablement for diverse IoT applications providing connected intelligence while offering fast time-to-market and implementation time.
Jan-2020: NXP introduced QN9030 and QN9090 Bluetooth 5 Soc. The new products are aimed to provide flexibility and storage space for sophisticated applications as well as safe over-the-air updates. These devices are powered by an Arm-Cortex-M4 running at 48MHz and comprises up to 640KB onboard flash along with 152 KB SRAM in order to offer flexibility and storage space for sophisticated applications and safer OTA updates. In addition, the new range would also expedite development and time-to-market for manufacturers producing products with enhanced features for various IoT applications like sports and fitness trackers, personal healthcare devices, connected appliances, and toys, home automation, and gaming peripherals along with mesh networks and beacons.
Acquisitions and Mergers:
Dec-2021: Renesas took over Celeno Communications, a leader in Wi-Fi solutions. With this acquisition, the company would improve its connectivity offerings. Moreover, the integration of the portfolios of Renesas and Celeno would introduce an end-to-end and comprehensive solution.
Apr-2020: Infineon took over Cypress Semiconductor, an American semiconductor design, and manufacturing company. Through this acquisition, the company aimed to increase its emphasis on structural growth drivers as well as a wider variety of applications.
Scope of the Study
Market Segments covered in the Report:
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