Medical And Wellness Markets Drive Thin-Film-Sensor Growth

Thin-film sensors—sensors containing films that are less than 5 µm—have experienced steady growth during the thin-film industry’s past 30 years. BCC Research, a publisher of technology market research reports based in Wellesley, Mass., has been studying the current status of this industry in order to predict future trends. Currently, the global sensor market is valued at $83 billion. Thin-film sensors represent only 3% of that market. But they produced significant revenue of $1.98 billion in 2013. Although the market is still expanding in numbers of units sold, that value translates into a 3.7% decrease in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR)—from revenue of $2.14 billion in 2011 and $2.12 billion in 2012. Revenues have seemingly dropped due to downward pressure on prices for biological sensors.

Medical, biomedical, and general wellness sensors represented the largest share of the market in 2013 with 92.7%. Revenues were primarily due to the sale of test strips used in blood-glucose monitoring devices. Though less representative, the industrial and instrumentation sectors accounted for 3.9% and 1.4%, respectively, of the global market in 2013.

BCC Research has projected thin-film sensors to resume growth in the next five years due to the following: improving global economic conditions; increasing medical conditions (like diabetes); increased diffusion of portable, wearable, and flexible devices; an aging population; rising healthcare costs leading to self-testing and self-monitoring systems; cost-efficient production technologies; and the ongoing miniaturization trend.

The firm’s Market Research Analyst, Margareth Gagliardi, gathered data for this report. As shown in the summary table, the global market for thin-film sensors is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2013 to 2018. By 2018, the market is predicted to reach global revenues of $2.38 billion. 

SUMMARY TABLE

Global market for thin-film sensors through 2018
($ MILLIONS)