The global sensor market exceeds 1.79 trillion yuan! China accounts for 20%! The latest in-depth analysis of the sensor industry

The sensor industry is an indispensable and key driver of today's technological landscape. Known as the neural antennae of modern intelligence, it is a crucial component of the Internet of Things era. As devices capable of sensing, measuring, and monitoring environmental variables, they provide valuable data input by converting real-world information into electrical signals or digital data.

Sensors are ubiquitous in smartphones, cars, industrial automation, and medical devices, greatly facilitating our lives and work. As technology advances and matures, sensors will become smaller, consume less power, and achieve higher precision, while also becoming more reliable and durable, enabling their wider application in various fields.

Below, we will discuss the sensor industry, starting with an industry overview and providing a detailed analysis of its development history and current status. We will also review the sensor industry chain and related companies, and analyze key downstream application areas. Based on this foundation, we will provide a perspective on the industry's future development. This article will provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of China's sensor industry. The data in this article is sourced from multiple recent research reports covering 2023 and is therefore valuable for reference.

01. Overview

1. What is a sensor?

A sensor is a device or component that is a key hardware gateway to the digital economy. It senses and measures the real world, digitizes it, processes it, and then integrates it with specific algorithms to enable intelligent hardware terminals. Sensors are commonly used in mobile phones, wearable devices, industrial equipment, and automobiles.

2. Common sensor classification

There are many types of sensor products, which can be classified according to different standards.

(1) According to the detection principle

Sensors can be categorized as physical, chemical, and biosensors. Physical sensors are based on physical effects such as force, heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and sound. Chemical sensors are based on the principles of chemical reactions. Biological sensors are based on molecular recognition functions such as enzymes, antibodies, and hormones.

(2) According to the output signal

They can be divided into analog sensors (which convert the measured non-electrical quantity into an analog electrical signal), digital sensors (which convert the measured non-electrical quantity into a digital output signal), and switch sensors (when a measured signal reaches a certain threshold, the sensor outputs a set low-level or high-level signal accordingly).

(3) By technical path

It can be divided into single material sensor (piezoelectric), combined material sensor (CIS), and microcomputer system sensor (MEMS).

(4) According to different uses

Sensors can be divided into temperature sensors, pressure sensors, acoustic sensors, optical sensors, inertial sensors, position sensors, etc. Sensors can collect different types of data according to their usage, and their downstream applications are extensive.

1) Pressure sensor: A pressure sensor is a device or apparatus that can sense pressure signals and convert them into usable output electrical signals according to certain rules. Based on different processes and working principles, it is divided into MEMS pressure sensors, ceramic pressure sensors, sputtered thin film pressure sensors, etc. Sensors based on MEMS technology are the most widely used due to their miniaturization, mass production, and high sensitivity. Pressure sensors are the most commonly used sensors in industrial practice and are widely used in various industrial automation environments, involving many industries such as water conservancy and hydropower, railway transportation, intelligent buildings, production automation, aerospace, military industry, petrochemicals, oil wells, electricity, ships, machine tools, pipelines, etc.

2) Inertial sensor: An inertial sensor is a motion sensor that is primarily used to measure the motion parameters of an object in inertial space (acceleration, tilt, shock, vibration, rotation, and multiple degrees of freedom). It is an important component for solving navigation, orientation, and motion carrier control. Inertial sensors are divided into two categories: accelerometers and gyroscopes based on their sensitivity. Based on measurement accuracy, they can be divided into high-end and low-end application markets. Products in the low-end application market are characterized by lower prices, higher volumes, and lower performance requirements, primarily including consumer electronics, automotive electronics, and industrial automation. Products in the high-end application market are characterized by higher precision requirements, higher prices, and lower volumes, primarily including military-grade and aerospace-grade electronic products for defense and commercial aerospace.

3) Magnetic Sensors: Magnetic sensors accurately measure physical parameters such as current, position, direction, and angle by sensing magnetic field strength, distribution, and disturbances. They are widely used in consumer electronics, modern industry and agriculture, automobiles, and high-end information technology equipment. Magnetic sensors are categorized into three types: compass, magnetic field sensor, and position sensor.

4) Optical sensors: These utilize the properties of light and its interaction with matter to convert optical signals into electrical signals for processing and analysis. Common optical sensor types include photoelectric sensors, fiber optic sensors, image sensors, laser sensors, and spectral sensors. Optical sensors are widely used in information technology, aerospace, energy, healthcare, and other fields.

5) Acoustic sensors: These utilize the propagation and reflection of sound waves to collect information about sound and convert it into electrical signals for processing and analysis. Common types of acoustic sensors include microphone arrays, piezoelectric sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and surface acoustic wave sensors. They can be used for sound recognition, direction location, distance measurement, material testing, and sonar applications. Acoustic sensors have a wide range of applications, including sound recording, noise control, communications, medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and security systems.

3. Sensor structure and working principle

A sensor is a complete data acquisition system consisting of both analog and digital circuits. The core of a sensor is data acquisition: the various parameters (physical, chemical, or biological) of the measured object are appropriately converted through various sensitive elements. These parameters then undergo signal conditioning, sampling, quantization, encoding, and transmission, ultimately being sent to a computing system for processing, analysis, storage, and implementation. A complete data acquisition system (DAS) consists of a sensor , an analog front end (AFE), and a microcontroller (MCU). Its operating principle is as follows: an analog electrical signal is received from the sensor, amplified by an amplifier by the AFE, converted to a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter, and processed by the MCU. The AFE is part of the signal chain. A complete signal chain includes not only signal sensing and processing, but also the conversion of the analog signal back to an analog signal by the DAC.

In the long run, with the upgrading of electronic materials and microelectronics technology, the circuit structure of the data acquisition system shows two major development trends: first, multiple sensor chips can be integrated and packaged, or more signal channels and functional modules can be integrated into the analog front end to cope with the scenario of measuring multiple targets at the same time and simplify circuit design; second, SoC (system-on-chip), that is, integrating any two or three of sensitive components, analog front end and MCU on a single chip.

02. Development History

The development of the sensor industry can be divided into the following three stages:

(1) Structural sensors: They mainly use changes in structural parameters to sense and transform signals. For example, resistance strain sensors convert electrical signals by changing the resistance of metal materials when they undergo elastic deformation.

(2) Solid-state sensors: These began to develop in the late 1970s. These sensors are made of solid components such as semiconductors, dielectrics, and magnetic materials. They are manufactured using certain properties, such as the thermoelectric effect, the Hall effect, and the photosensor effect, and are made into thermocouple sensors, Hall sensors, and photosensors, respectively. These sensors have the characteristics of low cost, high reliability, good performance, and flexible interfaces.

(3) Intelligent sensors: Entering the 21st century, traditional sensors have developed towards intelligent ones. These sensors are the product of the combination of microcomputer technology and detection technology. They have certain detection, self-diagnosis, data processing and adaptive capabilities for external information. At that time, intelligent measurement was mainly based on microprocessors. The sensor signal conditioning circuit, microcomputer, memory and interface were integrated into a single chip, giving the sensor a certain degree of artificial intelligence.

03. Market Status

1. The global sensor market is huge, with China accounting for about 20%

The global sensor market exceeds one trillion yuan, with China accounting for approximately 20%. According to Statista, the global market size is projected to reach $251.29 billion (approximately 1.79 trillion RMB) in 2022. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global sensor market has experienced significant fluctuations, with year-on-year growth rates of -13% in 2020, 62% in 2021, and 10% in 2022. In contrast, the Chinese market has maintained relatively stable growth, with growth rates of 14%, 20%, and 19% over the past three years, remaining around 20%. Furthermore, China's share of the global sensor market remains around 20% , maintaining a relatively stable global market share.

2. The domestic market is still dominated by foreign capital, and about 80% of high-end sensor chips rely on overseas.

Currently, China's sensor market is still dominated by foreign investment, with domestic supply capacity slightly insufficient. Global leaders such as Emerson, Siemens, Bosch, STMicroelectronics, and Honeywell hold approximately 60% of the domestic market share. In the high-end market, approximately 80% of sensor chips rely on overseas companies, with the remaining share concentrated in the hands of a few listed companies. From a domestic perspective, the current market is highly concentrated. The top five companies in China's sensor industry account for over 40% of the domestic sensor market, while the remaining 60% are small and medium-sized enterprises, whose products are mainly concentrated in the mid- and low-end markets or have not yet achieved large-scale application.

3. Home appliances, automobiles, and industrial control are the main application areas of smart sensors

Looking at the downstream market, sensors are primarily used in consumer and industrial products, with home appliances and automobiles accounting for 23.15% and 18.52% of the market, respectively. Furthermore, smart sensors are also widely used in industrial control, medical, aircraft, and shipbuilding.

04. Industry Chain Analysis

From a comprehensive industry chain perspective, the sensor industry chain is characterized by its length and complexity. 1) Upstream, in addition to core chips (sensors, signal chains, and digital processing chips), it also includes precision parts and electronic components (such as circuit boards, connectors, and passive components). Furthermore, sensors with networking capabilities also require the supply of communication chips/modules. 2) Midstream, comprised of various Tier 1/2 suppliers, primarily handles sensor product design, assembly, and sales. 3) Downstream, encompasses various sensor end devices, including consumer, industrial, communications, and automotive.

Judging from the characteristics of each link in the industry chain, the sensor market is characterized by being specialized at both ends and universal in the middle. That is, sensitive components/chips and sensor terminals are highly specialized, while the supporting analog front-end chips, processor chips, and communication chips/modules are highly versatile. The main reason is that different types of sensors collect information based on different sampling principles. The design, materials, and processes of sensitive components need to be customized for specific needs. Sensor equipment also has specialized suppliers due to the need to establish a brand effect in specific fields. For these reasons, sensor manufacturers usually develop their own sensitive components/chips to ensure high gross profits and customized functions.

1. Sensor chips: integration is the general trend

Sensitive elements/sensor chips are the core components of sensors, responsible for converting the non-electrical parameters being measured into electrical signals. In a narrow sense, sensor chips (including actuators) primarily refer to sensitive components based on the piezoelectric, piezoresistive, thermoelectric, and magnetoelectric effects. These include inertial (acceleration and angular velocity), pressure, temperature, and magnetic sensors. In a broader sense, sensor chips also include optoelectronic devices based on the photoelectric effect. These devices have a large market size and are specialized, and include image sensors, light-emitting diodes, light sensors, lasers, laser detectors, optocouplers, infrared light-emitting diodes, and cathode ray tubes. Key performance indicators include accuracy, output noise, power consumption, temperature drift, and surge voltage resistance.

Due to differences in input signals and application scenarios, sensor chips are non-standardized, resulting in a relatively fragmented market. Sensor chips can be categorized in numerous ways: 1) By the property being measured, there are temperature, humidity, weight, pressure, voltage, current, inertial acceleration, position, sound, gas, and electromagnetic waves; 2) By operating principle, there are magnetoelectric effects (Hall effect and magnetoresistance effect), piezoelectric effect, piezoresistive effect, photoelectric effect, and thermoelectric effect (Seebeck effect); 3) By manufacturing process, there are MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor), and CMOS-MEMS integration; 4) By conductive material, there are semiconductors, ceramics, and piezoelectric substrates.

(1) MEMS: the largest sensor chip with steady market growth

The MEMS sensor chip market is the largest, accounting for half of the total sensor chip market. It is expected to continue to grow steadily in the future, but the current domestic production rate remains low. MEMS is a manufacturing process that uses semiconductor processing technology to create microcircuits and mechanical systems on silicon wafers. These are then packaged, cut, and assembled into silicon-based transducers. These devices offer advantages such as miniaturization, low power consumption, and low cost, and can be used to manufacture a variety of sensor chips, including those for acceleration, angular velocity, pressure, and actuators.

According to Omdia, the global MEMS market size reached US$18.477 billion in 2022. Currently, MEMS sensors account for the largest share of the market in consumer electronics, medical, automotive electronics, and industrial applications, accounting for 41.8%, 28.1%, 16.7%, and 9.1%, respectively. RF filters, pressure sensors, inertial sensors, and acoustic sensors are the primary applications of MEMS.

Compared to other sensor manufacturing processes, MEMS has the characteristics of being mass-produced, but with high technical complexity and strong customization. International leading companies dominate the market share and generally adopt the IDM (vertically integrated manufacturing) production model. (1) Compared with traditional mechanical systems, MEMS is sufficiently miniaturized to be mass-produced through micro-nano processing. (2) Compared with standard CMOS processes, MEMS has complex micro-mechanical systems, and the manufacturing process needs to take into account both circuits and mechanical systems. Different sensors have different mechanical characteristics, which makes MEMS highly customized in wafer manufacturing and packaging and testing. There is a "one product, one manufacturing process" approach. Overseas leading manufacturers generally adopt the IDM production model.

Domestic MEMS sensor chip manufacturers are primarily fabless companies. While IDMs are more conducive to medium- and long-term development, given the stage of technological development, the fabless model remains a key short-term strategy for domestic manufacturers to compete globally. Acquiring advanced and sufficient foundry resources is crucial. According to Yole, leading global MEMS wafer foundries include Silex, Teledyne DALSA, Sony, TSMC, X-Fab, APM, IMT, VIS, Tower Jazz, and UMC . Domestic companies include Saiwei Microelectronics, SMIC, and Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor . Acquiring leading overseas companies can accelerate breakthroughs in MEMS production technology for domestic manufacturers.

(2) Magnetic sensing: Benefiting from new energy vehicles, the growth elasticity is significant

Magnetic sensors are mainly based on semiconductor materials and CMOS manufacturing processes. They are the second largest type of sensor chips after MEMS, with a market size of approximately US$2.5 billion. They will benefit significantly from new energy vehicles in the future, and domestic manufacturers are accelerating breakthroughs.

Magnetic sensors include Hall and magnetoresistive (xMR, including AMR, GMR, and TMR), based on the Hall effect and magnetoresistive effect, respectively. Hall magnetic sensors are relatively widely used. They use a standardized CMOS production process to integrate the Hall element, voltage regulator circuit, and operational amplifier, resulting in better mass production and cost-effectiveness. Hall magnetic sensors can be functionally categorized into two types: linear Hall and switching Hall. The former outputs an analog voltage proportional to the input, while the latter outputs a digital value, outputting 0s and 1s based on changes in the circuit voltage state, thereby controlling the on and off of the switch.

In terms of competition, the global magnetic sensor market is primarily dominated by companies from the United States, Japan, and Europe. Industry leaders include Allegro, Infineon, Melexis, AKM, and TDK . Domestic players include BYD Semiconductor, Canrui Technology, Nanochip, Awinic Electronics, Saizhuo Electronics, and Magtron . Unlike MEMS sensors, which require customized production processes and packaging, magnetic sensors (primarily Hall sensors) use standard CMOS wafer production processes, which have relatively mature and abundant production capacity resources. Consequently, industry participants all adopt a foundry business model with in-house packaging.

2. Analog front end

The analog front end primarily consists of linear products (including amplifiers and comparators) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), which together with the back-end digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and various interface products form the signal chain. In 2021, the global analog chip market was worth $67 billion, with general-purpose and application-specific chips accounting for 41% and 59%, respectively, with market sizes of $27.2 billion and $39.7 billion. General-purpose chips, comprising signal chains (including linear, converters, and interfaces), and power management chips, accounted for 37% and 63%, respectively. Application-specific chips encompass communications, automotive, consumer, computing, and industrial applications, accounting for 52%, 27%, 7%, 6%, and 8%, respectively. The analog chip market is projected to reach $94.8 billion by 2023, indicating a steady expansion.

From a growth perspective, technological upgrades are driving the trend toward chip integration to reduce peripheral circuitry. Dedicated signal conditioning ASICs and integrated sensor chips contribute to the miniaturization and portability of smart sensor terminals. For example, in blood oximeters, highly integrated analog front-end chips can reduce the number of discrete electronic components. On the production side, the BCD analog chip production process is evolving toward high voltage, high power, and high density, currently reaching 65nm and moving toward standardization and modularization. (BCD is a technology that integrates high-precision BJT devices, highly integrated CMOS devices, and DMOS devices for the power output stage onto a single chip.)

In terms of market demand, the process technology for digital core processors has been upgraded to 5nm and is evolving toward 3nm and higher. To ensure reliability and leakage current requirements, the processor's supply voltage must be reduced accordingly, creating new demands for voltage conversion between digital core processors and peripheral devices. Furthermore, the growth of the Internet of Things and smart car markets is expected to drive increased demand for sensor components and signal chains.

In terms of competition, European, American, and Japanese manufacturers dominate the analog front-end chip market. According to IC Insights, the top ten global analog chip suppliers held a combined 60% market share in 2018. Domestic analog integrated circuit manufacturers started relatively late, primarily focusing on mid- and low-end chips. However, with technological accumulation and policy support, domestic production has rapidly developed. The competitive advantages of analog front-end manufacturers lie in: 1. A more comprehensive product range; 2. Higher levels of integration; and 3. In-house, secure production capacity to ensure a robust supply chain.

3. Microcontroller

MCU is a microcontroller (also known as a single-chip microcomputer), which performs calculation and control functions. It appropriately reduces the frequency and specifications of the CPU, and integrates memory, timers, I/O ports, serial ports and interrupt systems on a single chip. Depending on the application scenario, some MCUs also integrate functional components such as A/D, D/A, PWM, PCA, WDT, as well as data transmission interfaces such as SPI, I2C, and ISP.

MCUs have many product categories: (1) According to the number of data bits in the processor, they can be divided into 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit. The higher the number of bits, the faster the operation speed. 32-bit MCUs based on the ARM core have a good ecosystem and scalability, and have gradually become the core of global consumer electronics and industrial electronics, occupying a major market. (2) According to the purpose, they can be divided into general-purpose and special-purpose MCUs. General-purpose MCUs refer to MCUs that provide all developable resources (ROM, RAM, I/O, EPROM, etc.) to users; special-purpose MCUs refer to MCUs whose hardware and instructions are designed for a specific purpose, such as automotive and smart card applications.

MCUs are essential automotive components, used in various electronic control units (ECUs) and widely used across various vehicle applications. According to data, MCUs account for 30% of all automotive semiconductor devices. Traditional vehicles use an average of 70 MCUs per vehicle, while smart cars are expected to use over 100. 8-bit MCUs are typically used in body control due to their simplicity, durability, and low price. However, 32-bit MCUs are used in areas such as powertrains and driver assistance sensors, offering higher processing power. Overall, as automotive architecture evolves, 32-bit MCUs will become mainstream in automotive systems due to their ability to process large amounts of sensor data and integrate domain controller functions. The upgrade of edge MCUs from 8/16-bit to 32-bit is also a trend.

The global MCU market is highly concentrated. Renesas Technology, NXP, ST, Infineon, and Microchip Technology hold the majority of the market share. Domestic MCU manufacturers primarily focus on the consumer and home appliance markets. In recent years, they have gradually expanded into the automotive sector, focusing on low- and mid-range automotive-grade MCUs with less relevance to safety performance, such as body control modules like wipers, windows, and ambient light control. They have also begun developing high-end MCUs required for future intelligent vehicles, such as smart cockpits and ADAS. According to Omdia, BYD Semiconductor is China's leading automotive-grade MCU chip manufacturer. Other players include GigaDevice, Coresea Technology, Zhongying Electronics, Guoxin Technology, Fengqi Technology, and Jiefa Technology (a subsidiary of NavInfo). Unlisted companies include Qipuwei Semiconductor, Saiteng Microelectronics, Xinwang Micro, and Huada Semiconductor .

4. Communication chips

Communication chips connect sensor terminals to the network, using both wired and wireless methods. They have unified protocols and rules, and due to the diverse needs of application scenarios, the number of protocols is also rich and diverse.

1) Wired communication protocols. Ethernet (ETH) is the most widely used, including in carrier and enterprise networks. Industry alliances jointly develop relevant protocols for specific application areas. The consumer electronics market has USB, HDMI, MIPI, LVDS, VGA, and DP/eDP, the automotive market has CAN, LIN, MOST, and FlexRay, the industrial market has serial data interfaces (RS-485, RS-232, etc.), power line communication has PLC, and smart meter reading has M-BUS.

2) Wireless communication protocols, including long-distance cellular communication, long-distance non-cellular communication, short-distance communication, and satellite navigation and positioning communication. Cellular communication is continuously upgraded from 1G to 5G. Long-distance non-cellular communication includes WiFi, Zigbee, NB-IoT and Lora. Short-distance communication includes Bluetooth, UWB and RFID. Satellite navigation and positioning communication includes Beidou/GPS/Glonass/Galileo.

IoT communications are primarily wireless, with different types of terminals utilizing different networking methods. Mobile phones, as highly intelligent terminals, integrate various wireless communication functions; laptops primarily rely on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; True Wireless (TWS) earphones use Bluetooth for audio transmission; smartwatches utilize integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips; smart health monitors primarily rely on Bluetooth; and smart homes primarily rely on Wi-Fi. IoT communication chips consist of a baseband (modem) and a radio frequency front-end (RFFE). In most scenarios, the baseband and main processor are integrated into a SoC chip, while the RFFE remains primarily a discrete chip. According to GSMA forecasts, the number of global IoT connections is expected to reach 23.3 billion by 2025, with the number of cellular IoT connections expected to increase from 2.1 billion in 2021 to 4.1 billion in 2025.

In-vehicle communication in smart cars is primarily wired. Years of development have culminated in a solution dominated by the CAN bus, with multiple bus technologies coexisting. However, with the trend toward upgraded automotive electrical and electronic architectures, domain management, and overall vehicle lightweighting, Ethernet communication is expected to become a core technology, increasing communication bandwidth while reducing wiring complexity and overall vehicle weight. Ethernet circuit interfaces primarily consist of the data link layer (MAC) and the physical layer (PHY). While most automotive processors already include MAC control, the PHY chip converts analog signals from the cable to digital signals on the upper layer of the device. The PHY chip is a complex hybrid digital-analog chip system, encompassing AFE designs such as high-performance SerDes, high-performance ADC/DAC, and high-precision PLL, as well as DSP design for filtering algorithms and signal recovery. This requires comprehensive technical expertise in digital, analog, and algorithmic design, as well as a complete product design team.

Taking Aquantia 's automotive ADAS Ethernet architecture as an example, each sensor (including cameras, lidar, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, etc.) requires a physical layer (PHY) chip to connect to the ADAS domain switch. Each switch node also requires several PHY chips to input data transmitted from the sensors. According to the Ethernet Alliance, with the continuous development of connected vehicle technology driven by the demand for intelligent automotive applications, smart cars will have more than 100 Ethernet ports per vehicle in the future. According to the China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., shipments of automotive Ethernet PHY chips will increase tenfold from 2021 to 2025, and the number of automotive Ethernet PHY chips installed in China will exceed 290 million by 2025. According to the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, the global Ethernet PHY chip market is expected to maintain a compound annual growth rate of over 25% from 2022 to 2025, exceeding 30 billion yuan by 2025.

Overall, the communications chip market exhibits an oligopolistic competitive landscape. 1) In the cellular communications chip market, Qualcomm and MediaTek hold the majority market share, followed by South Korea's Samsung, China's Unisoc, HiSilicon Semiconductor, and ASRock . 2) In the non-cellular communications chip market, Broadcom and Marvell are the global leaders in Wi-Fi chips, Nordic and Dialog hold nearly 50% of the Bluetooth low-power chip market, and Decawave and NXP dominate the UWB chip market. Domestic non-cellular communications chip players include Espressif Systems, Broadcom Integrated, Hengxuan Technology, and Zhongke Bluexun . 3) In the Ethernet PHY chip market, four manufacturers —Broadcom Marvell, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Taiwan's Realtek— hold the majority of the market share. Currently, only a few domestic manufacturers can mass-produce multi-rate, multi-port Ethernet physical layer chips. China's self-sufficiency rate for Ethernet physical layer chips is low, and downstream manufacturers rely heavily on imported Ethernet physical layer chips. Domestic manufacturers include Yutai Microelectronics and Jinglue Semiconductor .

5. Sensor packaging/complete machine

Due to the high integration, lightweight, and miniaturization of consumer electronic terminals, sensors are usually used in the form of packaged chips, forming a direct supply relationship between chip suppliers and terminal brands. However, due to the complexity of components, applications such as industrial control and automotive electronics implement domain-specific management (body domain, chassis domain, cockpit domain, power domain battery management and motor drive control system, and autonomous driving domain). Sensor chips need to be supplied to terminal brand customers in the form of modules/complete devices, combined with main control computing chips, power management chips, communication interface chips, and other electrical components through Tier 1/2 manufacturers.

Overall, the global sensor market is relatively fragmented, dominated by leading overseas manufacturers. The diverse range of measurement objects and application scenarios results in significant variations in sensor technical principles, product forms, and material processes, resulting in a fragmented market. Furthermore, sensors have high performance requirements for sampling speed, accuracy, and consistency, requiring long-term technical and process development. Consequently, the strong will always be strong, and leading overseas manufacturers have long held a dominant position. The general-purpose sensor market is dominated by companies such as Bosch, Broadcom, Qorvo, STMicroelectronics , and TI . The automotive sensor market is dominated by international Tier 1 manufacturers, including Bosch, Continental, BorgWarner, Sensata, DENSO, Infineon, Elmos, Aptiv, Allegro, TI , and ADI . In the industrial automation sector , Siemens and TDK are represented.

Summarizing the business characteristics of the world's leading sensor manufacturers, there are mainly two categories: one is sensor chip + general analog chip, taking analog chip leaders such as TI, ADI and ST as examples; the other is sensor chip + module + software integrated solution, taking automotive Tier 1 Bosch as an example.

In the era of the Internet of Everything (IoE), sensors have enormous potential for growth, particularly driven by the increasing demand from smart cars and the Internet of Things. The rapid development of the robotics industry is also creating new opportunities for sensors. Below, we will focus on the application of sensors in robotics and automotive applications.