Driven by rising demand for fitness and health monitoring features as well as by improved user interfaces, shipments of sensors used in wearable electronic devices will rise by a factor of seven from 2013 through 2019, according to IHS Technology. The worldwide market for sensors in wearables will expand to 466 million units in 2019, up from 67 million in 2013. Shipments of sensors will climb much more quickly than the market for the wearable devices themselves. Wearable devices will increase to 135 million units in 2019, less than three times the total of 50 million in 2013. According to IHS, the average wearable device shipped in 2019 will incorporate 4.1 sensor elements, up from 1.4 in 2013.
“Wearables are a hotbed for sensors, with market growth driven by the increasing number of these components in each product sold,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst, MEMS and Sensors, at IHS Technology. “The main factor propelling this phenomenon is a transition in market share away from simple products like pedometers and toward more sophisticated multipurpose devices such as smartwatches and smartglasses. Instead of using a single sensor like the simpler devices, the more complex products employ numerous components for health and activity monitoring, as well as for their more advanced user interfaces.”
Smartphone brands are increasingly aware that wearables are a better platform for some types of sensors than mobile handsets. IHS expects components like humidity sensors and pulse sensors to move from handsets to wearable devices, such as new smartwatches introduced by Samsung, Apple and others. This will further boost shipments of sensors in wearables.
Sensor scan
The types of sensors used in wearables are motion sensors, MEMS and non-MEMS based sensors for user interfaces, health sensors, and environmental sensors.
Motion sensors represent the dominant technology in the wearables segment and comprise the component categories of accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, pressure sensors and combo motion sensors. MEMS sensors for user interfaces include MEMS microphones, proximity sensors and MEMS displays.
The health sensor area is represented by pulse, pulse-oximeters, hydration and skin temperature sensors. Environmental sensors include humidity, temperature and ultraviolet (UV) components.
Sensing opportunity
Wearables increasingly are employing sensors for fitness monitoring, using motion sensors or health sensors. Wearable devices also are incorporating fitness and health monitoring using motion sensors and health sensors such as pulse sensors. On the user interface front, wearables use MEMS microphones for voice command and motion sensors for tap command.
“The use of these types of sensors reflects consumer preferences that are propelling the growth of the wearables market,” Bouchaud said. “Users want health and fitness monitoring, and they want wearable devices that act as extensions of their smartphones. However, there’s no real demand from consumers for environmental sensors. Instead, the rising adoption of environmental sensors such as humidity and UV devices is being pushed by both sensor suppliers and wearable original equipment manufacturers (OEM).”
Progress needed in sensor implementation
Adding new sensors for the sake of increasing sensor content does not provide much value for users and will not help wearable device makers to be successful in the long run.
Still, IHS believes that the potential of sensors in wearables has not been unleashed yet and that sensors can contribute much more to improve the user experience with wearables.
“Wearable devices are often developed by start-ups with limited electronics design resources. Therefore, the current usage of sensors has often been restrained; a minimum sensor setup has been selected to ensure a “bug-free” first product launch. For example, we see a large number of activity monitors from many small companies just having an accelerometer based product,” explains Seppo Nissilä, Senior Consultant, Silverblip Ltd. “As companies gain experience, the ecosystem will develop further to make the implementation of sensors easier for OEMs.” Nissilä cites examples such as dedicated OS like Google Android Wear and sensor hubs with embedded software algorithms. With these tools, OEMs will make more out of their sensors; for example, Samsung is already integrating a pulse sensor and gyroscope into their wrist band.
Emerging sensors such as pulse sensors in smart watches suffer severe limitation in their usage today. The pulse measurement is affected by motion artifacts and, therefore a number of devices such as the Samsung Gear Fit, are unable to measure pulse while the user is moving. “Under these conditions, pulse measurement can create more frustration than value for users”, Nissilä said. IHS anticipates that the hardware and software implementation will be improved to provide a better user experience. Several companies are working on solving the motion artifact issue with new detection technologies, new hardware and software algorithms.
A long battery life is one of the key wishes of users. On the other hand, adding more sensors means increasing the power consumption and decreasing the battery life. This issue particularly hampers the deployment of power- hungry sensors such as gyroscopes. Sensor makers are making continual progress with gradually lowering the power consumption of their devices though. The availability of ultra-low power sensor hubs also helps maintaining the overall power consumption low while new sensors are added.
Sensor hubs in wearables
The first generations of sensor hubs were designed for smartphones and tablets. The adoption of sensor hubs is still in its infancy for wearables as most devices only use an accelerometer and there is no real benefit to add a sensor hub in this case. However, IHS expects that the increased penetration of 9-axis solutions, as well as of additional sensors for health and environment, will drive the adoption of sensor hubs in wearables starting in 2015.
As the wearable market is very fragmented, various types of sensor hubs will co-exist. IHS expects that logic ICs will be the dominant approach because of their advantages in terms of low-power consumption, size and price. Sensor integrated hubs, AP integrated hubs and MCUs will be “neck and neck” just behind logic ICs. Sensor integrated solutions will be popular because of their ease of implementation. AP will be found mostly in smart watches and smart glasses. Navigation chipsets with integrated sensor hubs will ship in lower volumes, mostly in smart glasses.
Watching the market
The market for sensors in wearables will undergo a major acceleration next year as shipments of the Apple Watch commence. Overall wearable sensor shipments will double next year; shipments of sensors for smartwatches will surge by nearly 600 percent.
The Apple Watch not only employs an accelerometer, but also a gyroscope, a microphone and a pulse sensor.
“Similarly to the iPhone and iPad, the Apple Watch will set a de facto standard for sensor specifications in smartwatches,” Bouchaud said. “Most other wearable OEMs will follow Apple’s lead in using these four devices, or will add even more sensors to differentiate.”
Fitness and heart rate monitors, as well as foot pods and pedometers, lead the wearable market in terms of sensor shipments in 2013. However, smartwatches will take the top position starting next year and will maintain dominance through 2019.
STMicroelectronics dominates sensors
STMicroelectronics is, by far, the top MEMS and sensor supplier for the wearable device market. The company consolidated its leadership position in 2013 with a 26 percent share of revenue, up from 20 percent in 2012.
Besides its leadership in the discrete accelerometer market, STMicroelectronics’ success with wearable sensors is due its strong bundling strategy. The company often sells its sensors as part of a packaged deal along with its other semiconductor offerings, such as 32-bit microcontrollers and wireless chips.
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This article is a part of MEMS Journal's ongoing market research project in the area of wearable devices and technologies. If you would like to receive our comprehensive market research report on this topic, please contact Dr. Mike Pinelis at [email protected] for more information about rates and report contents.
Copyright 2014 MEMS Journal, Inc.
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