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Non-industrial motor sales approach 9 billion
Published:  20 May, 2010

The global market for non-industrial motors exceeded 8.7 billion devices last year and is forecast to grow to nearly 11.5 billion motors by 2013. A new report from the market analyst, IMS Research, suggests that three types of DC motor – brushed, brushless and stepper – account for more than 85% of the market.

Many of the non-industrial motors are used in consumer products such as cars, domestic appliances, and computers and peripherals

“Most people don’t realise the scale of motor quantities that are consumed annually by simple consumer electronic devices,” comments the report’s co-author, IMS executive vice-president, Adrian Lloyd. “To be honest, we were astounded once we had completed our analysis. The study results also highlight how different the motor technology mix in this market is from the industrial one.”

The report quantifies demand for seven different types of motor, in six power categories, measured across 13 market sectors. It says that DC brushed motors account for around 45% of the total demand for non-industrial motors. They are the cheapest type of motor and offer predictable performance, making them suitable for numerous applications.

DC brushed motors may have limited speed control capabilities and operating lives, but IMS expects their sales to continue to grow just faster than the market average during the period 2007 to 2013, reflecting that they are “good enough” for many applications.

IMS predicts that brushless motors will have the fastest growth rate. Although they are more expensive than brushed machines, they perform better and are replacing other types of motor in many applications. Continued price erosion in this sector is helping to make brushless motors appear more attractive from a price-performance point of view.

In addition, to quantifying motor demand, the study also looks at various types of motor control used in the sector and at the power and processor-based semiconductors they incorporate. It estimates that the market for semiconductors used in non-industrial motor controls was worth $17.5bn in 2009. The report excludes components such as passive devices, opto components and analogue chips. If these were included, the total value of this semiconductor market could be as much as $30bn.

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