1. Overview of the temperature sensor industry

It is to process metal original equipment into industrial thermometers that meet special requirements through special processes, and can be used by downstream large-scale electromechanical manufacturing enterprises, equipment production and energy research enterprises. Temperature sensor manufacturing enterprises are a bridge connecting metal component manufacturing enterprises, cable processing, metal processing materials and automated industrial manufacturing, aerospace, equipment manufacturing and other downstream enterprises, playing the role of connection and link.

1. Upstream industries

The upstream of temperature sensors is the raw material processing industry such as heat-sensitive materials, precious metals, and cables. Among them, precious metal materials such as platinum wire and copper alloy are expensive, but their actual usage is small and can be supplied through normal market purchases; platinum resistors are the main heat-sensitive materials used in heat meter temperature sensors. Currently, platinum resistors on the domestic market , especially high-quality platinum resistors, mainly rely on imports.

In recent years, several emerging high-quality platinum resistor suppliers have emerged in Germany, Switzerland and other places, which has intensified competition in the raw material market to a certain extent and contributed to the decline in the price of imported high-quality platinum resistors. Therefore, the competition in the upstream industry of the temperature sensor industry is relatively sufficient, and the supply of goods is stable. At the same time, the increasingly fierce competition in the upstream industry has also promoted the decline in raw material prices, making the temperature sensor industry a direct beneficiary.

2. Downstream industries

The downstream demand for temperature sensors is very broad, covering equipment manufacturing, heat measurement, industrial automation, wind power, agriculture, new energy, environmental protection and daily life. The huge demand in the downstream market provides a broad development space for the temperature sensor industry.

Temperature sensors are the most commonly used sensor type in automated measurement and control systems. The improvement in the automation level of industrial equipment has not only created a huge demand for temperature sensors, but also put forward higher requirements for the performance and reliability of temperature sensors.

At present, most temperature sensors on the domestic market are manufactured using design technology from the 1990s, which have poor reliability and short service life. They can no longer meet the temperature monitoring requirements of high-end automated control equipment. Therefore, as the demand for mid-to-high-end temperature sensors in refrigeration equipment, scientific instruments and measuring instruments, wind power equipment and solar equipment, medical equipment and other industries continues to increase, temperature sensors with high reliability, good stability, long service life, and intelligent There will be huge room for development.

3. Industry barriers

(1) Technical barriers

The technical level of early domestic temperature sensors was low, and the product accuracy and stability were poor, which could not meet the requirements of automation upgrades. In recent years, as downstream industries have increased their performance and reliability requirements for temperature sensors, the demand for mid- to high-end temperature sensors has continued to increase, and product research and development has become increasingly difficult. Therefore, the lack of effective accumulation of temperature sensor-related technologies is a problem. Key barriers for new entrants.

(2) Barriers to industry experience

The R&D and design process of the temperature sensor industry requires the accumulation of a large amount of experience parameters, and mastering the standard requirements and product needs of temperature sensors by downstream enterprises in the industry. New companies entering the industry need to cultivate customers for a certain period of time and accumulate industry experience. Therefore, industry experience barriers are one of the barriers to entering the industry.

(3) Talent barriers

The design and manufacturing of temperature sensors involves many disciplines, and differences in specific applications in downstream industries determine that temperature sensors need to meet many requirements such as different applicable environments, accuracy levels, and stable performance. At present, professional and technical personnel in the industry are relatively limited, and talents mainly rely on enterprises to cultivate them in R&D practice. Therefore, new entrants will face high talent barriers.

4. Industry development characteristics

(1) The periodicity of the industry

The development of the temperature sensor industry is closely related to the level of national industrial automation and the overall macroeconomic situation. With the implementation of a series of national policies and measures to promote the development of temperature sensors, as well as the huge market demand generated by downstream industries, the temperature sensor industry will usher in broad development space in the future. At the same time, temperature sensors have a wide range of application fields, and the market demand for different types of temperature sensor products is consistent with the changing trends of the policy environment, development level, economic benefits and other factors of its downstream industries.

(2) Seasonality of the industry

The temperature sensor industry as a whole has no obvious seasonal characteristics.

5. Industry risk characteristics

(1) New technology application risk

Temperature sensor is a comprehensive and wide-ranging field. With the advent of the information and intelligence era, people have put forward higher requirements for high precision and intelligence in temperature measurement and control. The personalized characteristics of customer needs will gradually become more prominent, and the frequency of product updates will gradually accelerate. The market will have higher requirements for the technical reserves, rapid research and development, rapid response to orders, and differentiated production capabilities of enterprises in the industry.

(2) Risks of intensified market competition

The broad market prospects of the sensor industry have attracted and gathered many companies. Especially for temperature sensors, which are the most basic and main product type in the sensor field, industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Among the current participants in the domestic temperature market, sensor manufacturers from developed foreign countries have strong technical strength and rich experience accumulation, especially in the field of high-end temperature sensors, with strong competitiveness. In such a competitive environment, most domestic temperature sensor manufacturers are small in scale and have relatively weak technical strength. They mainly strive for market share through cost and price advantages. Therefore, the increasingly fierce market competition will bring challenges to the production and operation of domestic enterprises. Come for more challenges.

First, the industry’s survival background, industrial policy, industrial layout, industry life cycle, the industry’s position in the overall macro-industrial structure, and their respective development and evolution directions and growth background

The second is to study the characteristics, competition situation, difficulty of market entry and exit, and market growth in each industry market;

The third is to study the competitive strategies and market behavior patterns of various industries under different conditions and growth stages, and provide some operational suggestions to enterprises.

2. Temperature sensor market size and development trends
3. Market size

(1) Global market conditions

According to the MEMS Consulting Report, the global temperature market was US$5.13 billion in 2016, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% from 2016 to 2022, and the market is expected to reach US$6.79 billion in 2022. In terms of shipments, the global temperature sensor market is expected to witness double-digit growth. The current demand for temperature sensors in the semiconductor industry, automotive industry and some process industries is growing, which is due to the growing demand for sensing technology from industrial end-users and the increasing vehicle production in economies such as Japan, India, and China. The report segments the global temperature sensor market by product type, end-user industry (including process industry, discrete industry, etc.), and region.

In terms of product type, temperature sensors based on thermocouple technology will hold the largest market share. In terms of end users in the process industry, the chemical and petrochemical industries will occupy the largest market share, and with the growth in the use of temperature sensors in the industrial field and the industry’s increasing focus on safety and monitoring, it is expected that the process industry will be Dominate the temperature sensor market.

Global Temperature Sensor Market 2022 (Segmented by Region)
Among other discrete industries, the semiconductor industry will hold the largest market share and dominate the temperature sensor market during 2016-2022. The Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry is expected to have the highest CAGR during the forecast period of this report. HVAC systems are widely used in commercial buildings such as offices and hotels.

North America will occupy the largest market share and dominate the temperature sensor market during 2016~2022, mainly due to: scientific research institutions in the region are increasingly using temperature sensors to study environmental changes in North America; the logistics and warehousing industry The use of temperature sensors continues to grow. Furthermore, the Asia Pacific region is also full of potential growth opportunities.

(2) Domestic market size

Sensor technology, as the core means of collecting information, keeps pace with communication technology and computer technology, and is an important pillar of modern information technology. It has had a profound impact on the development of the national automation industry and the entire process of industrial construction.

In today’s information age, the first thing people have to solve is to obtain accurate and reliable information, and sensors are the main way and means to obtain information in the natural and production fields. Sensors have penetrated into fields such as industrial production, thermal energy measurement, space development, ocean exploration, environmental protection, resource surveys, medical diagnosis, bioengineering and even cultural relic protection, playing a positive role in promoting economic development and social progress.

From the perspective of application fields, the mechanical industry, automotive electronics, communication electronics, and consumer electronics are the largest markets for sensors. Sensors in the field of domestic industrial and automotive electronics products account for about 42%, and the fastest growing markets are automotive electronics and communication electronics applications.

In recent years, the domestic sensor market has continued to grow rapidly, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%. At present, there are more than 1,700 enterprises engaged in sensor production and research and development in my country, and the market size reached 86.5 billion yuan in 2014 and 99.5 billion yuan in 2015. Among them, the scale of the pressure sensor industry is approximately 19.4 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 19.5%; the scale of the flow sensor industry is approximately 21.19 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 21.3%; the scale of the temperature sensor industry is approximately 14.33 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 14.4%.

Calculated at an annual growth rate of 20%, the domestic temperature sensor market size in 2018 can be predicted to be approximately 22.5 billion: The sales market situation of my country’s temperature sensor industry in recent years is shown in the figure below:

2. Development trend

In the past hundred years, the development of temperature sensors has roughly gone through the following three stages:

1) Traditional discrete temperature sensor (including sensitive elements)

2) Analog integrated temperature sensor/controller

3) Intelligent temperature sensor

“Currently, temperature sensors around the world are undergoing a major transformation from analog to digital, integrated to intelligent and networked.”

3. Product classification of integrated temperature sensors

(1) Analog integrated temperature sensor

Integrated sensors are made using silicon semiconductor integration processes, so they are also called silicon sensors or monolithic integrated temperature sensors. The analog integrated temperature sensor came out in the 1980s. It is a special IC that integrates the temperature sensor on a chip and can complete the functions of temperature measurement and analog signal output.

main feature:

Single function (only measuring temperature), small temperature measurement error, low price, fast response speed, long transmission distance, small size, micro-power consumption, etc. It is suitable for long-distance temperature measurement and temperature control, and does not require non-linear calibration and peripheral circuits Simple. It is the most commonly used integrated sensor at home and abroad. Typical products include AD590, AD592, TMP17, LM135, etc.

(2) Analog integrated temperature controller

The analog integrated temperature controller mainly includes a temperature control switch and a programmable temperature controller. Typical products include LM56, AD22105 and MAX6509. Some enhanced integrated temperature controllers (such as TC652/653) also contain A/D converters and cured programs, which have some similarities with smart temperature sensors. But it is a self-contained system, and it is not controlled by the microprocessor when working, which is the main difference between the two.

(3) Intelligent temperature sensor

Intelligent temperature sensor (also known as digital temperature sensor), came out in the mid-1990s. It is the crystallization of microelectronics technology, computer technology and automatic test technology (ATE). At present, a variety of intelligent temperature sensor series products have been developed internationally. All intelligent temperature sensors include temperature sensors, A/D converters, signal processors, memory and interface circuits. Some products also have a multiplexer, central controller, random access memory and read-only memory.

main feature:

It can output temperature data and related temperature control quantities, and is adapted to various microcontrollers (MCU); and it implements the test function through software based on hardware, and its degree of intelligence also depends on the development level of the software.

4. New trends in the development of intelligent temperature sensors

In the 21st century, intelligent temperature sensors are rapidly moving into the high-tech field with high precision, diverse functions, standardized buses, high reliability and security, and the development of virtual sensors and network sensors. In addition, the research and development of the single-chip temperature measurement system is also at the right time, which indicates the future technological innovation.

(1) Improve temperature measurement accuracy and resolution

The first smart temperature sensor launched in the mid-1990s used an 8-bit A/D converter, which had low temperature measurement accuracy and a resolution of only 1°C. At present, foreign countries have successively launched a variety of high-precision, high-resolution intelligent temperature sensors, using 9~12-bit A/D converters, and the resolution can generally reach 0.5~0.0625℃. The DS1624 high-resolution intelligent temperature sensor newly developed by the American DALLAS Semiconductor Company can output 13-bit binary data, with a resolution of up to 0.03125°C and a temperature measurement accuracy of ±0.2°C.

In order to increase the conversion rate of multi-channel intelligent temperature sensors, some chips also use high-speed successive approximation A/D converters. Taking the AD7817 5-channel intelligent temperature sensor as an example, its conversion time for the local sensor and each remote sensor is only 27μs and 9μs respectively.

(2) Add test function

The testing capabilities of new smart temperature sensors are also being enhanced. For example, the Model DS1629 1-Wire Smart Temperature Sensor adds a real-time clock (RTC) to complete its functionality. DS1624 also increases the storage function, using the 256-byte E2PROM memory inside the chip to store the user’s short message. In addition, intelligent temperature sensors are developing from single channel to multi-channel, which creates good conditions for the research and development of multi-channel temperature measurement and control systems.

Intelligent temperature sensors have a variety of working modes to choose from, including single conversion mode, continuous conversion mode, standby mode, and some also add a low temperature limit expansion mode, which is very easy to operate. For some smart temperature sensors, the host (external microprocessor or microcontroller) can also set its A/D conversion rate (typical product is MAX6654), resolution and maximum conversion time (typical product is MAX6654) through corresponding registers. DS1624).

The intelligent temperature controller is developed based on the intelligent temperature sensor. Intelligent temperature controllers are adapted to various microcontrollers to form an intelligent temperature control system; they can also work independently from the microcontroller to form a temperature controller on their own. Typical products include DS1620, DS1623, TCN75, LM76, and MAX6625.

(3) Standardization and standardization of bus technology

At present, the bus technology of smart temperature sensors has also been standardized and standardized. The buses used mainly include single-wire (-Wire) bus, I2C bus, SMBUS bus and SPI bus.

5. Consumer product applications

Low-cost integrated temperature sensors and transmitters have emerged and are used in consumer products, such as washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, etc. Low cost, no need for external components, and simple on-chip calibration during manufacturing are special requirements for consumer product applications. And the measurement accuracy must reach 0.5℃ between -20 and 100℃.

6. Automotive applications

Thermistors are commonly used in automobiles to measure temperature. Gasoline vehicles use 5-10 units per vehicle, and pure electric vehicles use 15-20 units. Major companies include TDK (EPCOS), Amphenol, TE, etc., which generally have the ability to make their own thermistors. Domestic companies Huagong Gaoli and Huibichuan have also entered the pre-installation system and supplied goods in batches. However, thermistors are mainly purchased from foreign investors, such as Murata and Semitec.