WELLESLEY, MA -- The wireless sensor network (WSN) technology landscape is in flux, with many competing standards vying for the same market. BCC Research reveals in its new report that wireless sensors engender a wide array of monitoring and management use cases previously considered untenable. These devices have opened an entirely new market of application possibilities apart from opening avenues for improvement in existing processes.
Wireless sensors employ wireless communication methodologies for transmitting readings and observations. These devices are the actual sensing elements used in WSN. They do not include gateways or management software. This report deals exclusively with wireless technologies employed in the personal area network (PAN) and local area network (LAN) topologies. It does not cover wide area networks (e.g., commercial cellular networks).
The global market for wireless sensor devices should grow from nearly $2.4 billion in 2016 to nearly $7.7 billion by 2021 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.7%. The home automation and other indoor applications market, the largest segment, should reach $2.7 billion by 2021 on a projected five-year CAGR of 22.4%. Industrial installations, the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR of 38.2%, should total $1 billion by 2021, up from $204 million in 2016.
The defense sector, the protracted turmoil in the Middle East and African regions, as well as an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region, will translate into hectic defense product development across the globe. Products in this domain are not bound by the constraints associated with attractive pricing requirements that influence civilian customer markets. Possibilities opened by wireless sensors have enormous implications for the defense sector.
The industrial end-application confronts a fragmented technological landscape in wireless personal area networks. The fragmentation has adversely impacted the growth prospects of wireless sensors. Nevertheless, the gap between the demand for wireless sensor adoption and the limited number of actual adoptions is so wide that the industrial installation end-vertical application should grow the fastest among all end-vertical applications.
Home automation and other indoor end-vertical applications will continue as the largest contributor to the market. However, intense competition among wireless technologies such as ZigBEE, EnOcean, Z-wave, 6LoWPAN (Thread) and Bluetooth Smart should weaken its influence. Ecosystems associated with each of these applications continue to put considerable investment and effort in ensuring the privacy of their technology. As a result, the market has witnessed hectic rollout of wireless sensor-enabled products.