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IDTechEx forecasts that the global sensor market will reach US$253B by 2035 as global meta-trends in mobility, AI, 6G connectivity and connected devices drive new demand. IDTechEx’s Sensor Market 2025-2035 report provides extensive analysis of the global sensor market, including over 50 company profiles and insight collected from 14 related sensor report topics. By summarizing IDTechEx’s extensive sensors report portfolio, and drawing on years of industry engagement, the report outlines innovations, opportunities, and trends across future mobility, IoT, wearables, biomedical, edge computing, environmental sensing and more. This analysis includes granular ten-year sensor forecasts, segmented by sensor technology.
Ten-year global sensor market forecast (2025-2035), segmented by sensor technology.
Sensors are fundamental electronic components used to detect and convert physical input into an electrical signal for processing. Hundreds of millions of sensors are produced each year and are routinely used in communications, transport, industry, healthcare, energy, consumer, and buildings applications. While sensors themselves only compose a fraction of the annual revenue generated by major electronics companies, sensor technology nevertheless represents a multi-billion-dollar global market.
In 2025, mature sensor technologies, including semiconductor, optical and conventional transducers (electromechanical, electrochemical) dominate the global sensor market. Commoditized sensor technologies command market share across most verticals, including in automotive, aerospace, industrial, consumer, healthcare, and environmental markets.
Despite the domination by established sensor technologies, revenue growth within these commoditized markets is stalling, with manufacturers increasingly looking towards emerging technologies and applications for growth. Mega-trends driving innovation today include future mobility (autonomy, electrification and driver monitoring), expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) and integration with AI, wearable technology adoption and the commercialization of 6G.
As emerging technology trends in key sensor markets evolve, so too do sensing requirements. Sensor design trends focus on improved integration and performance within products and applications. Emerging sensor technologies seek to compete through reduced size and power, capabilities to measure more metrics, for longer, with greater sensitivity and accuracy, and be integrated into new form-factors.
Future mobility will be a vehicle for sensor growth
Sensors will play a key role in enabling electrification, automation, in-cabin monitoring, vehicle connectivity, and software defined vehicles (SDV). Emerging trends in mobility present broad growth opportunities across various sensor technologies. For example, temperature, current, voltage and gas sensors are required for battery monitoring within electric vehicles, while LiDAR, radar, infrared imaging and camera technology will be essential in automated vehicles.
The evolving passenger-vehicle dynamic due to increased vehicle autonomy will also drive sensor growth. Infrared (IR), time-of-flight (ToF), and radar sensors are applicable for in-cabin monitoring in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to check if the driver is still focused on the road. Looking towards the future, increased passenger-vehicle interaction and biometric authentication will empower features-as-a-service business models to emerge in connected SDVs.
Future mobility will rely on sensor technology to enable the next evolution of transportation and passenger-vehicle experiences. This report identifies and critically evaluates emerging future mobility sensor technology, applications, requirements, and demand.
Turbulent journey for wearables does not deter sensor opportunities
The wearable sensor technology landscape covers a wide range of sensor types, which can be integrated into an array of wearable form-factors. This report provides an overview of wearable technology form factors and the wearable sensor technology opportunities associated. Motion sensors, optical sensors and imaging, wearable electrodes, force, strain, temperature and chemical sensors are examined and compared across medical, consumer, AR/XR, and industrial applications.
Large scale opportunities in the wearables are harder to come by. The last decade has been characterized by the success of smart watches and fitness trackers, as well as the disruption of the glucose test trip market by continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). Looking ahead, there are still many exciting innovations in wearable sensors, now arguably seeking to enter nicher beach-head markets as the demand to refine them for smaller, application specific verticals increase.
IoT sensing remains a question of when
IoT solutions promise smart devices that are ‘greater than the sum of their parts’. While IoT sensors are widely employed across many market verticals – from logistics, agriculture and industry to consumer electronics, buildings and healthcare – the rate of emergence has consistency underwhelmed. Nevertheless, industrial, environment, and consumer IoT continue to represent key targets for sensor manufacturers.
Industrial IoT employs sensor networks to collect, monitor, and analyse data from industrial operations. Key emerging applications for IIoT sensor technology include industrial robotics and automation, machine health monitoring and predictive maintenance, worker safety, inventory management and logistics. Data insights from IIoT solutions offer optimized process efficiencies, improved safety, productivity and reduced operating costs.
Gas sensors are key elements within environmental IoT solutions, where indoor air quality and outdoor pollution monitoring lead interest. Tightening regulations and recommendations for outdoor air quality are increasing the need for sensitive gas sensors. This report explores and compares emerging gas sensor technologies, including optical particle counters, metal oxide sensors, electrochemical sensors, infra-red sensors, photo-ionization detectors and photoacoustic sensors for use in environmental and consumer IoT.
A key challenge persistently facing the IoT sensor market is the long return on investment (ROI) period, which discourages adoption in industrial, environmental, and consumer markets. However, these challenges are largely independent of the underlying IoT sensor technology, with ROI largely dictated by the final IoT solution (i.e, enterprise software, data insights, automation). This report characterizes the historic challenges facing IoT sensor applications, including legacy infrastructure integration, and case studies on emerging success stories.
What edge computing means for sensors
The recent commercialization and advancement of energy efficient, high-performance CPUs is driving computing towards the edge. Edge computing is emerging for integration within IoT sensors, driven by the demand for lower latency, increased energy efficiency, and data privacy concerns.
Progress in edge computing and neural processing is ushering the rapid emergence of edge AI technologies within endpoint devices. Edge sensing is increasingly being co-developed alongside edge AI technologies. Edge AI integration within sensors promises predictive and prescriptive functionality for greater automation in most application markets.
Edge sensor technology is compelling in time-critical applications where large data volume is generated. Key edge sensing market applications include occupancy detection in smart buildings, predictive maintenance in industrial IoT, and activity and vital sign monitoring in medical wearables.
Sensor technology innovations will keep this mature market on its toes
IDTechEx’s Sensors 2025-2035 report provides a comprehensive overview of key sensor technology innovations impacting the market. Highlighted below include key innovation areas covered within the report:
- Emerging image sensors: Sensor design innovation, including multiple new SWIR technologies, solution-processable quantum dot sensors, and large area organic photodetectors. Applications, including machine vision and hyperspectral imaging.
- Gas sensors: Comprehensive overview of the gas sensor market, including metal oxide (MOx) semiconductor, electrochemical, infrared (IR), photo-ionization, e-nose, and photoacoustic sensor technology evaluation, benchmarking, SWOT analyses, and supplier categorization.
- Printed and flexible sensors: Overview of emerging flexible sensor technology produced from additive manufacturing methods using printed functional inks. Applications of flexible, large area pressure, strain, temperature, touch, gas, wearable sensors and photodetectors in automotive, consumer electronics, industrial, and medical applications.
- Silicon photonics: Introduction to silicon photonic circuits and review of applications of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in biomedical, biosensors, gas sensors, structural health sensors, spectroscopy and LiDAR sensors.
- Quantum sensors: Quantum sensor technology breakdown, including four SWOT analyses, overview of applications including in imaging and positioning, with market maps of key suppliers.
- Biosensors: Overview of biosensor technologies, including bioreceptors, optical transducers and electrochemical transducers, and their applications at the point-of-care. Overview of point-of-care testing market dynamics and market trends within in vitro diagnostics.
- Advanced carbons and nanocarbon in sensors:Overview of advanced carbon materials in sensing and their applications.
The latest report from IDTechEx on Sensors 2025-2035 characterizes innovations in sensor technology and emerging sensor application markets, including future mobility, IoT, wearable technology, and edge sensing. IDTechEx forecasts that global sensor revenue will grow at a conservative 6% CAGR by 2035, underpinned by the emerging sensor technology innovations highlighted.
