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Global sales of precision motors ‘will double by 2020’
Published:  20 August, 2015

The global market for precision electric motors will be worth $52.2bn by 2020 – more than double its 2013 value of $22.7bn – according to a new report from Transparency Market Research. This represents a CAGR of 12.7% between 2014 and 2020.

The report attributes the growth to the increasing demand for high-performance motors for use in vehicles, defence and aerospace equipment, domestic appliances and other motor-driven systems. In addition, increasing demand for industrial robots and the use of precision motors in medical diagnostic applications will open up new opportunities in the coming years.

But the report adds that the higher cost of the motors will be a restraining factor on market growth in the near future.

In 2014, DC brushless motors dominated the precision motors market, with sales worth $21.3bn. This dominance is expected to continue, due to the motors’ extensive use in automotive applications. Another factor favouring DC brushless motors is the fact that they are controlled through simple switching commutation logic, unlike AC brushless motors which need complex algorithms.

Last year, the largest end-use market for precision motors was industrial machinery, accounting for $6.7bn of global sales – or more than a quarter of total revenues. But the study predicts a shift towards applications in hybrid and electric vehicles.

In 2014, the Asia-Pacific region was the biggest market for precision motors, with sales amounting to $11.3bn. This region is expected to continue to dominate the market during the period to 2020, due to rapid industrialisation in the emerging economies.