The global position sensor market is projected to reach $14.2 billion by 2024, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.7% during the 5-year forecast period, according to a market research report published by P&S Intelligence.
Among the key industries, the automotive industry held the largest share in the market in 2018. With increasing production of vehicles across the globe and rising adoption of new technologies in passenger cars, the demand for position sensors from the automotive industry is observed to be increasing globally, the study noted.
Another growth sector is the global packaging industry, particularly in developing countries such as China and India. The growth of packaging industry is attributed to growing food and pharmaceutical packaging sectors, coupled with rapid growth of exports that requires superior packaging standards for the international markets. As the packaging industry requires position sensors in packaging machines, this will also drive the growth of position sensors.
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On the basis of position sensor type, the rotary encoder accounted for largest revenue share in the market in 2018 and is also projected to be the fastest-growing category over the forecast period. This is due to growing demand for high resolution position sensors in automotive and aerospace industries. Rotary encoders provide more accurate and high-resolution set-points as compared to potentiometers, and they are digital-compatible.
According to the study, the manufacturing industry is expected to be the fastest growing industry over the forecast period. As position sensors play an important role in metal manufacturing applications, paper industries, and various other manufacturing industries, the Industry 4.0 revolution is expected to drive the demand for position sensors in manufacturing during the forecast period.
Geographically, the Asia-Pacific region generated the highest revenue in the market in 2018, with China accounting for the largest part of revenue. This is attributed to large manufacturing hubs in the country, and increasing focus of the government toward local production of aircraft in the country. Position sensors are used in aircraft for applications such as throttle and brake positioning, engine controls, and flight control.