Technology Choices and Supply Chain Management Are the Key Enablers of LiDAR Adoption

September 02, 2021

News

The market for LiDAR in automotive and industrial applications is expected to reach US$5.7 billion in 2026, showing a significant 21% CAGR between 2020 and 2026”, asserts Alexis Debray, PhD. Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Photonic, Sensing & Semiconductor at Yole Développement (Yole). “In 2020, the LiDAR in ADAS represented only 1.5% of the automotive and industrial LiDAR market. But the ADAS proportion is expected to reach 41% in 2026.”

Yole announced a 111% CAGR during the 2020-2026 period for this market segment. In that context, it will reach a market size of US$2.3 billion. In parallel, the growth in robotic cars, including robotaxis and autonomous shuttles, is expected to be less impressive but still important. This segment is expected to reach US$575 million in 2026 with a 33% CAGR during the same period.

In the industrial market, smart infrastructure and logistics are expected to see an higher growth. The smart infrastructure LiDAR market will reach US$395 million in 2026 with a 35% CAGR between 2020 and 2026. The logistics LiDAR market will reach US$466 million in 2026 with a 23% CAGR during the same period again. According to Yole, in smart infrastructure, smart city applications are expected to be most important segment to look at.

Security, highway monitoring, and autonomous checkout are other important applications. In logistics, autonomous trucks and delivery robots are expected to see significant growth.

Yole releases its annual LiDAR technology & market report, titled LiDAR for Automotive & Industrial Applications. With this 2021 edition, Yole’s analysts propose an update of their market analysis by adding new focus on the supply chain, industrial applications, software & computing for ADAS, key LiDAR companies as well as additional reverse costing analyses. The aim of Yole’s LiDAR report is to deliver market metrics and dynamics, and offer an application-oriented focus on key existing market and emerging ones. Analysts reveal their understanding of the LiDAR business value chain, infrastructure, and players. And they took a step back to analyze the technology trends and their impact on the industry.

Since the invention of 3D real-time LiDAR by David Hall from Velodyne in 2005, more than 80 LiDAR companies have been established, reminds Yole in its report. Many of them have bet on new technologies. This has resulted in high technological diversity in the LiDAR landscape.

“Despite this great diversity, the oldest technologies are still representing most design wins for the automotive industry,” explains Pierrick Boulay, Senior Technology & Market in the fields of Solid-State Lighting and Lighting Systems at Yole. And he adds: “Considering the LiDAR wavelength, 1550nm is less dangerous to the human eye than 905nm and promises integration through the silicon platform. However, 905nm represents 65% of design wins for the automotive industry.”

For the imaging method, traditional mechanical scanning represents 69% of design wins. MEMS micromirror and Flash LiDAR are also making their way into automotive, but their proportion is smaller.

Concerning the ranging method, direct Time-of-Flight (dToF) represent 100% of design wins. Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) , which is designed to allow for better integration, sensitivity, and instant radial velocity, is not expected before 2025. The identification of LiDAR design wins and their detailed analysis with a relevant segmentation is unique. This year, Yole’s analysts took the time to make the direct link between technical innovations and applications, especially in the automotive domain. They identified the design wins and analyzed them, one by one to give an evaluation and define rankings. Among the overall design wins made public, 8 have been created by Valeo. Per the company, his makes the French Tiers-1, by far, the leading LiDAR supplier in ADAS vehicles today. 

The 4th Yole Développement and CIOE Imaging & LiDAR for Automotive Forum 2021, is on September 1st, and the 3D Sensing for Consumer 2021, on September 2nd in Shenzhen China and online. 

For more information, visit: https://yole.maillist-manage.eu or www.i-micronews.com/products/lidar-for-automotive-and-industrial-applications