Shortwave Infrared Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The Shortwave Infrared Market is recording a CAGR of 8.68%, over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The increasing applications of the technology across the end-user industry is driving the market; the applications are not limited to defense and healthcare as shortwave infrared technology is increasingly adopted into automotive sector owing to the demand of ADAS. SWIR is being used for testing purposes in various industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, along with this the increasing need for miniaturization and low-power consumption technology across defense applications is positively influencing the market.

• Favorable government initiatives aimed at military and defense equipment upgrades are expected to drive the SWIR market during the forecast period. Increasing applications in scientific research for surveillance and object detection also support the growth of this market.
• Growing demand for SWIR products for monitoring and inspection application is expected to drive the market growth. The primary advantage of using SWIR technology in military applications is that SWIR cameras can see through and image higher contrast images and provide data even through the mist, rain, and challenging atmospheric conditions.
• SWIR cameras are increasingly being deployed for vehicle navigation. With the emergence of autonomous vehicles, SWIR technology can help to navigate through fog, snow, dust, and rain. With SWIR cameras’ growing application in autonomous vehicles, Israeli startup TriEye is planning to develop a dashboard-mounted SWIR camera in the consumer car market that can successfully navigate through snow, fog, dust, and rain.
• Moreover, SWIR has an added benefit of low power consumption and can be used to measure temperature; thus, it can also be used for fire detection. DigitalGlobe's (an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content), Earth Observation satellite, includes a shortwave infrared sensor that can see through thick smoke clouds of active fires on the ground.

Key Market Trends

Automotive Industry is Expected to Drive the Market

• Vehicle navigation systems are increasingly adopting SWIR cameras, the technology helps in enhancing driver vision, and currently, many vehicles in defense service are using it for navigation during night time. With the emergence of self-driving vehicles, the application of SWIR has become vital. Israeli startup TriEye has developed a shortwave infrared camera which will allow Advance Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles to achieve improved vision capabilities in any weather conditions and low-light conditions.
• Partial autonomous vehicles are already in the market, and their demand is going up ever since the introduction of this technology. According to BCG, the projected size of the global partially autonomous vehicles is expected to reach USD 36 billion by 2025.
• The global automotive vehicle component market is expected to provide a prime opportunity for SWIR technology adoption. According to Goldman Sachs, the global autonomous vehicle component market demand for cameras is expected to reach USD 28.38 million by 2050.
• Intel has invested USD 17 million in TriEye, which using CMOS based sensor to reduce the costs of its Automotive SWIR camera by a factor of 1,000 compared to rival InGaAs based solutions.

North America Region to Hold Significant Share

• Owing to the presence of the US and Canada, which are amongst the prominent automotive markets across the globe, the region is expected to hold a significant share of the SWIR market. According to GoodcarBadcar, North American brands sold a total of 1,755,840 cars in the US during the first half of FY2019; out of which Ford Division sold the highest number of vehicles with 557,884 unit sales. Tesla sold the least amount of cars compared to other vendors but is expected to surpass many significant vendors over the coming years.
• US defense spending is the highest in the world and one of the prominent market for SWIR cameras and technology. The National Defense Authorization Act added an amendment for fiscal 2019, which bars security equipment made in China from being bought by the US federal agencies. Chinese companies such as Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co.were specifically named. This provides a prime opportunity for other country vendors to cover the market gap.
• Canada's healthcare industry is experiencing demand resulting from the advance of chronic diseases and aging population. The healthcare spending in the country is projected to increase from 4.4% to 7.5% by 2020. The government healthcare spending exceeds 10% of the GDP, and according to the International Trade Administration, medical device imports account for nearly 75% of the country's medical device market. This is expected to drive the market for SWIR technology as testing equipment.

Competitive Landscape

The shortwave infrared market is moving towards the consolidated format owing to the presence of large vendors which are investing in R&D to innovate the technology offered. The major companies include Flir Systems Inc., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Sensors Unlimited (United Technologies Company), Princeton Instruments, Xenics, and among others.

• June 2019 - Hamamatsu Photonics announced that it developed an InGaAs area image sensor for hyperspectral cameras capable of detecting short-wavelength-infrared light upto 2.55 μm.

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