Acoustic Sensors Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Acoustic Sensors Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Acoustic Sensors Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% during the forecast period. The surface wave acoustic sensor is expected to have high growth during the forecast period due to its implementation in television transmitters and radios to generate signals for broadcasting. SAW devices are indispensable as filters in radio frequency applications and are important components used in the terminals and base stations for satellite communication.

Key Highlights

• Over the last few years, surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology was significantly adopted across some industry applications, including aerospace, telecommunication, and automotive. The most common use is in electronic components known as SAW filter, a basic radio frequency (RF) circuits component. SAW devices are utilized to measure humidity, pressure, and temperature and detect certain chemicals.
• Furthermore, acoustic sensors have recently seen significant demand in automotive applications. The complete silence of the motors used in electric cars may pose a hazard to inattentive pedestrians. As a result, the new electric and hybrid vehicles will have to be equipped with an acoustic warning system. Therefore, rising concerns regarding traffic management will drive market growth.
• Further, 5G is likely to create a massive opportunity for the vendors in the market studied to expand their scope, as the world's leading wireless technology innovators push the boundaries of what is possible in mobile technology. With growing filter content in 5G designs, OEM customers are focusing on the attractive combination of higher filter performance, and lower-cost SAW technology. Presently, there are many types of filters, including multilayer ceramic filters, monolithic ceramic filters, acoustic filters, and cavity filters. In smartphone RF front-ends, acoustic filters are mainly used, including SAW filters and BAW filters.
• In the initial phase of COVID-19, the studied market witnessed a disruption in the supply chain owing to a nationwide lockdown and closure of many manufacturing capacities. The healthcare industry expanded the opportunity scope for acoustic sensor technology vendors. Canada-based Research Nova Scotia developed a technology platform to test for the virus using surface acoustic wave (SAW) biosensors. It helped eliminate the need for reagents, sample processing, and specialized personnel. The SAW biosensors can detect very low concentrations and be manufactured from cheap and locally available material. To further contribute to the efforts of the Canadian government and the Province of Nova Scotia to address the COVID-19 outbreak, Research Nova Scotia (RNS) continues to provide rapid response funding from its Research Opportunities Fund. This fund was created by the Province of Nova Scotia to enable RNS to provide financial support to research projects that have the potential to benefit Nova Scotians.​

Key Market TrendsConsumer Electronics to Drive the Market Growth

• The consumer electronics industry is a prominent consumer of acoustic sensors, primarily driven by smartphones and laptops. Consumer electronics was one of the significant investors and adopters of acoustic sensors, which played a substantial role in developing the relevant sensors and devices.
• The acoustic sensors played a significant role in developing RF filters across various consumer and communication applications. For instance, acoustic devices are relatively simple in their composition. Due to the wide adoption of surface wave acoustic filters in the smartphone industry, the sensor materials cost dropped in the past three decades.
• Moreover, people, especially in developing countries, are buying smartphones, owing to the increase in disposable incomes and low-budget smartphones. In fact, according to a Cisco VNI Mobile report, smartphones (including phablets) will significant growth from a 50% share of total devices and connections in 2017 to over 50% (54%) by the end of 2022.
• With a relatively low deployment cost, most telephone devices and other similar gadgets have microphones/speakers installed, which support acoustic-sensing applications.
• The growing production of LTE, 4G, and 5G devices, especially 5G smartphones, is creating a massive growth opportunity for acoustic wave technology providers. RF filters are becoming standard components in these devices, as they isolate radio signals from the different spectrum bands used by various smartphones to receive and transmit information. New advanced SAW filters offer a higher performance solution than competing BAW filters in the sub-2.7 GHz frequency range, thereby having higher growth opportunities with the emergence of 5G technology.

Asia-Pacific to Witness a Significant Growth Rate

• Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing global acoustic sensor market, followed by North America and Europe, primarily due to an increase in the application of acoustic sensors in smartphones and smartwatches in the consumer electronics sector.
• The increasing focus on investments to develop infrastructure for supporting 5G technology is expected to boost the demand for RF semiconductors across the region. According to the GSMA, mobile operators in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to invest over USD 400 billion in their networks between 2020 and 2025, of which USD 331 billion will be spent on 5G deployments.
• Owing to the increasing usage of smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices in the developed and developing economies, such as the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and India, acoustic sensors are expected to witness growth during the forecast period.
• Most renowned smartphone manufacturers adopt RF filters in their latest 5G smartphones; LG and Samsung are few among these. The advancement in SAW sensors also enables more power-efficient RF paths in 5G and 4G multimode mobile devices at a lower cost than competing commercial solutions with similar performance metrics for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
• China holds the largest share of the acoustic sensor market in the Asia-Pacific due to the extensive use of acoustic sensors in consumer electronics. Other major end-user segments, such as automotive, defense, and industrial sectors that extensively adopt acoustic sensors, have very high penetration in this region.

Competitive Landscape

Acoustic sensors are a relatively simple device to manufacture. As a result, the market is highly fragmented, with many global and local manufacturers influencing market dynamics. The MEMS market is expanding steadily, but companies face fierce competition, resulting in price drops and low margins. The market is constantly being flooded with new entrants.

According to SEMI, the global association for the electronics industry's product design and manufacturing chain, wearables won't be a big driver for some time. Other applications are an increasingly fragmented collection of specialized niches. The MEMS market's major driver is the innovation leading to better performance of established devices like microphones and acoustic filters. Under such conditions, the companies focus on expanding their business through strategic acquisitions, partnerships, and innovations. Some of the recent developments are

• December 2021 - The University of South Florida's marine scientists have launched their first field missions in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico to test a new approach to mapping shallow coastal areas that are most vulnerable to coastal changes and storms but also the most difficult to investigate. Images obtained from an acoustic sensor mounted on a remotely controlled unmanned surface vehicle (USV), a laser-based sensor mounted on an airplane, and a satellite were used to generate high-resolution maps of these coastal areas.
• November 2021 - In the new DeeperSense project, an international consortium led by the German Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) is working on a technology that combines the strengths of visual and acoustic sensors with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). The aim is to significantly improve the perception of robotic underwater vehicles in three use cases in the maritime sector. The European Union (EU) funded the project for approximately EUR 3 million.
• October 2021 - Qualcomm announced a new filter solution, the ultraBAW RF filter. The ultraBAW is intended to differentiate signals from 2.7 GHz up to 7.2 GHz, enabling new 5G and Wi-Fi solutions. Qualcomm's ultraBAW and ultraSAW technology create a filter solution, covering a large portion of the radio spectrum. These filters add to Qualcomm's portfolio of RF solutions, including its modem-to-antenna RF system.

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