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LiDAR market set for explosive growth, says Yole

Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES, Taipei 0

The global LiDAR systems' market for automotive applications is showing an impressive growth between 2017 and 2023: from US$726 million to US$5 billion, it should reach a 43% CAGR during this period, according to Yole Developpement.

The growth should continue until 2032 with a US$28 billion market value, for the automotive market segment alone, said Yole.

Today, LiDARs and new applications are developing simultaneously. Thus the LiDAR market is directly linked to the development of ADAS solutions and robotic vehicles. Both domains show high growth rates and tremendous enthusiasm.

Yole said diverse industries such as aerospace, archaeology, construction, and wind farms and more will be also part of the LiDAR market landscape.

"In the past two years, more than US$800 million has been invested in LiDAR companies," said Alexis Debray, a technology and market analyst at Yole, as cited by a company press release. "Therefore, there is clearly a strong excitement around these technologies."

Some companies, despite being created only a few years ago, have received millions in investments, according to Yole. For example, Blackmore, founded in 2016, recently received US$18 million from BMW and Toyota. And Quanergy, launched in 2012, received US$180 million in 2017.

Such investments testify to LiDAR technologies' immaturity. Startups, industrial players, top-tier firms, and automotive OEMs are all investing in different approaches with no guarantee of success, but this is the price they must pay for a chance to be part of the automotive grade market for LiDAR technologies, seen by many as the "Holy Grail," said Yole.