In the grand tradition of kicking off a new year with predictions, a few recent analyst reports offer new forecasts for the test market in the upcoming years, from electromagnetic compatibility testing to the overall market.
A December report predicts that the general market for test equipment will grow at nearly 4% per year through 2024, with the highest growth rate coming from the healthcare sector “due to the development of new healthcare equipment, patient-monitoring systems, and personal emergency reporting systems.”
Meanwhile, the EMC testing market will grow at a 7% annual compound growth rate through 2022, according to analyst firm TechNavio, driven by augmented testing of smartphones during production as well as growth the semiconductor and electronics market in the Asia Pacific region. Another key trend impacting EMC testing is the growth of wireless and wired serial communications in the automotive space, TechNavio noted, including the implementation and eCall in Europe and the integration of GPS and cellular technologies in vehicles.
The global market for Ethernet testing is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 11% between 2018-2022, according to a separate TechNavio forecast.
“With the rise in adoption of Ethernet in different applications, the demand for larger bandwidth and test equipment that can handle high-speed Ethernet networks has increased,” the analyst firm concluded, adding that power over Ethernet (IEEE802.3bt) is one of the key emerging trends in the global Ethernet test equipment market. The Americas led the Ethernet testing market in 2017 and is expected to continue to dominate the market through 2022, although its market share will decrease somewhat.
In other test news:
-Conformance testing for 5G New Radio continues to expand, with Anritsu and Qualcomm submitting 5G New Radio conformance test cases to the 3GPP RAN5 working group. Anritsu said that its recent submission constitutes the first protocol conformance tests defined by TS38.523 and that they are based on the millimeter-wave, non-standalone mode for 5G devices. Anritsu said that it supported successful passes of the test cases using its ME7834NR Protocol Conformance Test Platform, with a Qualomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform and Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem family.
-The USB Implementers Forum has a new authentication program for a Type-C protocol that increases security. USB-IF said that the new protocal “empowers host systems to protect against non-compliant USB chargers and to mitigate risks from malicious firmware/hardware in USB devices attempting to exploit a USB connection. Using this protocol, host systems can confirm the authenticity of a USB device, USB cable or USB charger, including such product aspects as the capabilities and certification status. All of this happens right at the moment a connection is made – before inappropriate power or data can be transferred.”
–PCTel has chosen a master distributor for its test and antenna equipment in Japan: Marubun. The Japanese company will provide training, support, and sales to mobile network operators and other PCTEL customers, as well as keeping demonstration units and local inventory to support current networks and the transition to 5G.
“Marubun is an excellent distribution partner with a deep understanding of PCTEL’s technology,” said Arnt Arvik, PCTEL’s Chief Sales Officer, in a statement, adding that the company will be a “valuable resource for network testing OEMs who have integrated PCTEL’s industry-leading scanning receivers as part of their solution.”
