Microcontroller Market Analysis

Microcontroller Market Analysis

The 32-bit microcontroller segment held a microcontroller market share of over 40% in 2020 and is anticipated to witness growth of around 8% through 2027. The 32-bit Microcontroller Units (MCUs) provide several intuitive features such as high scalability, low-power consumption, and higher Input/Output (I/O) peripherals with miniaturized foot-print compared to other MCUs in the market. It can seamlessly carry out high-end operations with high accuracy and a lesser number of computational cycles, increasing its adoption in high-precision medical and healthcare devices.

These 32-bit MCUs are majorly used in portable medical devices, such as pulse oximeters, blood-glucose monitors, blood pressure monitors, and portable EKG/ECG monitors, due to their small size and low-power consumption of up to 5V for operations. In May 2020, ViraxClear, a China-based company, signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Phyto, the company’s North Africa-based distribution partner, to secure the purchase order of FDA-registered and CE-marked digital-thermometers for sales in North America. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the adoption of infrared thermometers and portable temperature sensing devices across the globe, which further increases the adoption of 32-bit MCUs in medical device applications.

The automotive application segment dominated over 35% market share in 2020 and will register around 10% growth rate till 2027. In the automotive industry, microcontroller is used in several vehicle electronics such as instrument clusters, In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems, telematics, and advanced safety systems, among others. Rising trends toward the integration of AI-enabled voice-assistance, development in ADAS, and self-driving cars by major automotive OEMs will increase the uptake of MCUs in the market. Companies are extensively focusing on launching automotive-grade MCUs with advanced features to gain a competitive edge in the market.
 

Rising trend toward the adoption of electric vehicles across the globe will further impel the growth opportunities for MCUs. Major players in the automotive industry, such as Tesla, Nissan, and Volkswagen Group, are emphasizing on the development of cutting-edge Electric Vehicle/Battery Electric Vehicles (EV/BEVs). However, the declining sales of automotive due to the COVID-19 pandemic are hampering the microcontroller market growth over the short-term. Gradual relaxation by government bodies on lockdowns is anticipated to restore the sales demand for automotive by the end of 2021.
 

The North America microcontroller market accounted for 15% revenue share in 2020 attributed to increasing investments of the U.S. government in shifting some of the manufacturing back to the U.S. In addition, research & development in surveillance and combat-drones will create growth opportunities for the market. These drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are integrated with MCUs for high precision militarized applications. Increasing investments of the U.S. government in its defense budget will further contribute to the market size expansion.
 

The microcontroller market is gaining traction owing to the increasing uptake of robotics and automation across the manufacturing and process industries. The manufacturing and process industries are emphasizing on installing industrial robots, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV), collaborative robots, and smart sensor assemblies. These robotics and automation equipment are integrated with microcontroller to achieve high-performance, smaller footprint, energy efficiency, and minimize error occurrence activities.