Nanosensor Market Analysis Report
Summary:
Sensing systems in the form of burglar alarms, pressure sensors and medical
diagnostic kits, etc., have been around for decades, but suddenly the sensor
business seems ready to take a great leap forward. The World Semiconductor Trade
Statistics organization has the sensor market pegged as the fastest growing of
all the product segments that it covers for the 2003 to 2006 period.
The drivers for this growing market are very diverse. For example, concerns
about national security are pushing the need for sensors that warn against
chemical or biological attacks or dangerous items hidden in luggage. In the
transportation industry the need to make cars and planes safer, more fuel
efficient and more comfortable for passengers is spawning new generations of
mechanical and chemical sensors. In medicine, with its growing emphasis on early
prevention, new biosensors and labs-on-a-chip offer an especially cost effective
means of diagnosis. Meanwhile, the next big thing in computing will supposedly
be pervasive computing in which always on mobile and fixed computers will
process information from a myriad different sources including weather sensors
and security sensors.
Although the sensor market is so fragmented, nanotechnology has some unique
capabilities that suggest that it will have a large impact in many of the
markets most important segments. Nanosensors are inherently more sensitive than
any other kind of sensor, making them a future choice where lives are at stake.
In addition, their small size and potentially low cost means that they can be
widely deployed -- perhaps being embedded in construction materials -- thereby
providing more comprehensive readings than a few scattered "macrosensors"
Nanotechnology also promises to created integrated devices that combine both the
sensor itself and the mechanism that converts what is sensed into useful
information.
This new report from NanoMarkets analyzes and quantifies the market for
nanosensors over the next eight years. It first examines each of the key
applications areas for these emerging products and then traces how the needs of
each sector translates into the types of nanosensors required and the materials
platforms likely to be used. In this report we also provide a survey of the of
the nanosensor development work and the products that are currently available,
as well as the technology issues that still need to be resolved. We also review
the activities of all the leading materials and device manufacturers who are
currently focused on nanosensors and provide detailed forecasts by application,
type of nanosensor and materials platform used.