Thermal Imaging Systems Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Thermal Imaging Systems Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Thermal Imaging Systems market was valued at USD 5.19 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 7.92 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 7.78% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026).

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has disrupted the supply chain globally, especially in hardware, electronic manufacturing, and semiconductor companies. However, market demand is likely to increase, and several players are launching new products. For instance, in May 2020, Honeywell International, Inc. introduced an AI-enabled thermal imager that detects elevated body temperatures at the entryway of factories, airports, distribution centers, and other commercial buildings.

Key Highlights

• The major application of handheld thermal imaging is witnessing increased demand in the defense and security sector. For instance, The US Army aims to provide thousands of new goggles to its soldiers engaged in combat missions.
• Companies have also miniaturized IR and thermal imaging sensors, due to the advancements in technologies, making them highly efficient, thereby increasing their ease of use. Handheld IR and thermal imaging systems gain traction for their portability and find its applications in various industry verticals, such as hospitals, saving repair times and heating costs.​
• Further, automotive applications are expected to gain traction in the next five years. The increasing use of thermal imaging systems such as thermal cameras in the automotive sector to reduce the risks in driving, especially during the night, is one of the major reasons for the growth of this application's thermal imaging market.​
• Moreover, recent developments in cooled mercury cadmium telluride (MCT or HgCdTe) infrared detector technology have made the development of high-performance infrared cameras possible for use in a wide variety of demanding thermal imaging applications.
• The factors, such as rising demand for surveillance across various verticals, gradually decreasing thermal cameras cost, and rapid development of high-speed infrared cameras, lead to increased demand for IR cameras, consequently driving the market growth.​However, inaccurate measurements and image color issues associated with the cameras are challenging market growth. The industries heavily relying on IR cameras are military and defense, and automotive.​

Key Market TrendsApplications in Military​ to Drive the Market Growth

• Military and defense were the very first applications of IR and thermal imaging systems. With the defense sector's rising investments on surveillance, IR, and thermal imaging systems adoption are expected to increase in the future.
• In the military sector, governments worldwide are investing in improving next-generation technology by providing military personnel with improved and accurate information. This has impacted the growth of especially short-wavelength IR cameras, as the adoption of IR thermography devices has increased in the defense sector. ​
• Globally, there is a growing trend of rising crimes and violence. This factor has raised the homeland security forces' budgets to procure the advance protective systems and gadgets. Modern warfare has become more asymmetric with an increasing number of non-lethal and lethal weapons.
• Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific region offers potential growth opportunities due to the rise in technology penetration and high defense spending, and the presence of many small and medium enterprises (SMEs).​

North America to Hold the Significant Market Share

• North America is expected to hold a significant market share for the thermal imaging systems market during the forecast period due to the increasing adoption of infrared imaging products and services by organizations in the region for applications, such as surveillance, threat detection, automotive, predictive maintenance, and others.​
• Companies in the region are developing new products or solutions to leverage the growing opportunity. For instance, FLIR Systems recently launched a high-resolution Thermal Vision Automotive Development Kit featuring the high-performance FLIR Boson thermal camera for automakers, tier-one automotive parts suppliers, and advanced driver assistance innovators systems (ADAS). ​
• Moreover, previously used, mainly for military and commercial applications, early forms of night vision first came to the mainstream automotive market in the 2000 Cadillac DeVille, albeit at a cost approaching USD 3,000. Since then, thermal cameras and sensors have witnessed a reduction in their price. ​
• Most companies are keen on developing a better IR camera to provide detailed infrared information to gain a competitive edge over others. For instance, Telops introduced a high-speed infrared camera, which features a maximum data throughput of larger than 1 Gigapixels. The infrared camera can acquire images at 1900 fps in the full resolution, which can be increased up to 90,000 fps in sub-window mode (64 x 4 pixels.). ​
• Autonomous cars have been witnessing significant adoption in Canada. In addition, companies, such as Uber, have been testing driverless technology in Phoenix, Arizona, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania cities.

Competitive Landscape

The thermal imaging system market is moderately consolidated, with a considerable number of regional and global players. The major players in the market are trying to gain more market share with product innovations.

• April 2021 - Seek Thermal launched Reveal FirePro X, the latest personal thermal imaging camera (TIC) for firefighters. The upgraded, handheld thermal imaging camera provides a new charging port, making it even more durable and easier to access when needed.
• February 2021 - The FLIR Boson-based thermal camera premiered in Veoneer's fourth-generation Night Vision System as an option on the all-new Cadillac Escalade, identical to the FLIR Thermal Automotive Development Kit (ADK). The new thermal-vision system offers a broader field-of-view with four times the resolution compared to the previous generation, extending road coverage, improving situational awareness, and displaying a sharper image to the driver.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

IBM Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Internap Corporation
Packet Inc. (An Equinix Inc. Company)
Scaleway Inc.
Amazon Web Services Inc
Rackspace Inc.
CenturyLink, Inc.
LightEdge Solutions, Inc

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