Smart Power Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The global smart power market (henceforth, referred to as the market studied) was valued at USD 7.67 billion in 2019, and it is projected to be worth USD 22.5 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 16.28% during 2020-2025. Wireless charging is an advanced technology of transmitting power through an air gap to electrical devices for energy replenishment. In the current market scenario, the recent progress in wireless charging techniques and commercial products' development has provided a promising alternative way to address the energy bottleneck of traditionally portable battery-powered devices.

Key Highlights

• The incorporation of different wireless charging solutions into the existing wireless communication systems also presents a series of challenging issues with regard to scheduling, implementation, and power management, which act as major market restraints. Moreover, the market studied is gaining significant traction as this technology attracts a wide range of applications, from low-power toothbrushes to smartphones, because of its convenience and better user experience.
• In the recent past, wireless charging rapidly evolved from theories toward standard features on commercial products, especially mobile phones and portable smart home devices. In 2012, the Nokia 920 became the first smartphone with built-in Qi wireless charging capability; instead of using a wired battery charger, consumers could rest the smartphone on a wireless charging pad.
• Companies that currently offer wireless charging in smartphones (without an aftermarket product) include Apple, Samsung, Sony, LG, Nokia, Huawei, Microsoft, Google, and Blackberry. Wireless charging is also making inroads in laptops, although the adoption lags smartphones. The first wireless charging compatible laptop was Dell’s Latitude 7285, which was introduced in the summer of 2017. Additionally, there are currently 18 car brands that offer wireless charging in cars, either as a standard option or an add-on solution.
• With the surging market penetration of wireless charging technologies, microwave beamforming has been adopted as a means to remotely power electronic products. The Qi specification, developed and supported by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), encompasses a combination of inductive charging and magnetic resonance technologies.
• Amidst the outbreak of COVID-19, the market is witnessing halting of production and disruption in the supply chain, leading to weakened growth of industrial output and the decline of wireless charger device manufacturing output across significant manufacturing hubs.​

Key Market Trends

Wireless Charger Receivers to witness significant growth

• The global demand for smartphones is increasing an exponential rate, with vendors offering innovative solutions and features to attract consumers. According to Ericsson's data, there were 5.5 billion smartphone subscriptions at the end of 2019, and it is forecasted to reach 7.5 billion by 2025; owing to such growing demand, vendors in the market are expected to enhance their offerings further to expand their market share.
• In addition to this, major vendors such as Apple and Samsung are looking to discontinue offering chargers as part of their standing in the box accessories to develop buttonless and hole less devices that can be charged wirelessly. Such developments are expected to be followed by other vendors across the world for their flagship devices.
• With the growing consumer inclination towards wireless charging solutions, vendors in the market are increasingly offering their solutions with the option of wireless charging. The global shipment of smartphones capable of wirelessly charging grew significantly during the year 2019.
• Development of wireless charging standard and adoption of these form mobile phone manufacturers has allowed a single device to support charging for multiple devices with different power requirements as well as from different mobile manufacturers has further helped the adoption.

Asia Pacific to Attain Dominant Market Share

• China is at the forefront of technological advancement and adoption; the country had over 800 million smartphone users in 2019 and expected to cross one billion marks by 2025. According to the data by Ericsson, China is set to add around 170 million smartphone subscriptions between 2019 and 2025; with the proliferation of 5G technology in the country, the demand for 5G capable high-end smartphones is expected to increase significantly over the forecasted period.
• Japan is one of the prominent economies in the region and home to one of the prominent market for smartphones. The mobile phone penetration in the country is over 90%, whereas smartphone penetration in the country stood at 67.6% in 2019, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.
• Apart from India, South Korea is one of the prominent markets for smartphones and one of the pioneers in the adoption of 5G technology. The country has one of the highest penetration of smartphones in the region; according to KISDI, the ownership rate of smartphones in South Korea during 2019 stood at 88.5%n and growing at a steady pace.
• Apart from India, South Korea is one of the prominent markets for smartphones and one of the pioneers in the adoption of 5G technology. The country has one of the highest penetration of smartphones in the region; according to KISDI, the ownership rate of smartphones in South Korea during 2019 stood at 88.5%n and growing at a steady pace.

Competitive Landscape

The Smart power market is moderately fragmented with the firm concentration ratio increasing. Thus, the intensity of competitive rivalry in the market is high. The smart power market comprises various prominent players, such as Belkin International Inc., Nokia Corporation, and Sony Corporation.

• Sept 2020- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd announced to launch the new Samsung Wireless Charger Trio. The new wireless charger is capable of charging three devices simultaneously. It supports the Qi wireless charging standard and that means this charger can be used to charge up any device that supports the standard, not necessarily the latest in mobile technology from Samsung.
• Jan 2020- Belkin International Inc partnered with Devialet, which has expertise across acoustic architecture, loudspeakers, and signal processing, over 160 patents, and a premium consumer brand developed Soundform ELITE Hi-Fi Smart Speaker and fast wireless charger. The wireless charging is of 10W for impactful bass levels of the speaker

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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