According to the latest research report released by Grand View Research (hereinafter referred to as "GVR"), the global image sensor market is expected to grow steadily at a rate of 6.7% in 2014-2020.

According to the report, the global market for image sensors is expected to reach 12.028 billion US dollars by 2020. Image sensors are mainly used in photographic mobile phones and tablets. With the increasing demand for these products, the market of image sensors will maintain rapid development. In the next few years, the demand for image sensors for industrial, automotive and medical applications will also increase dramatically.

With the increasing attention to minimally invasive surgery, medical applications will also rapidly promote the market growth of image sensors. The development of Backside Illumination technology also helps to increase the demand for CMOS image sensors. However, the unit price of image sensor is expected to continue to decline. Due to high power consumption and other issues, CCD image sensors will further shrink in the global market.

The "Image Sensors Market Analysis and Segment Forecasts To 2020" report has been made public to GVR users. Further research on the report reveals that:

Global image sensor shipments were 1.798 billion in 2012, and are expected to reach 3.09 billion in 2020, with a compound growth rate of 6.7% from 2014 to 2020.

CMOS image sensor has many advantages over CCD devices, including image quality. Therefore, from 2012, CMOS image sensor shipments accounted for 83.2% of the total market, and the compound growth rate is expected to be 4.4% between 2014 and 2020.

From 2014 to 2020, the shipment of image sensors in medical applications will grow at a compound growth rate of 9.2%. It is expected to become the fastest growing application area.

The Asia-Pacific region will become the largest and fastest growing market for image sensors. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 35.9% of global shipments in 2012 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.4% between 2014 and 2020. This is mainly due to the large demand for consumer electronics products in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to smartphones, the number of first-time buyers of products such as fool cameras and digital SLR cameras is also considerable, which will greatly increase the demand for image sensors.

The world's major sensor suppliers include Sony, Aptina Imaging, OmniVision, Canon, STMicroelectronics, Teledyne DALSA and Samsung Electronics.

The following is the global sales statistics of CMOS image sensor applications in 2013: