Time-of-flight (ToF) sensors are used to measure the time taken by an object to travel a distance through a medium. It measures the time difference between the emission of a signal and its return to the sensor after being reflected by an object. The sensor is used for various applications, including robot navigation, people counting, vehicle monitoring, and object detection. It is an all-in-one system for cost-effective, easy, and small-footprint integration. It provides true distance measurement without depending on the target size, color, and reflectance. In addition, ToF sensors use lasers to measure long distances and ranges with great precision.
Infineon Technologies AG; Sony Group Corp; STMicroelectronics NV; Teledyne e2v (Overseas) Holdings; and Texas Instruments Inc. –Prominent Market Participants in Time-of-Flight Sensor Market
The demand for ToF sensors is increasing due to their rising use in the automotive industry. The technology is used to monitor the driver’s behavior that helps prevent road accidents and improve vehicle safety. In addition, the demand for the sensors is increasing in other industries, such as consumer electronics, healthcare, gaming & entertainment, and aerospace & defense. As a result, the market players are coming up with advanced ToF sensors. In February 2020, Panasonic Corporation announced that they had developed a time-of-flight image sensor that uses avalanche photodiode (APD) pixels. It can acquire highly accurate 3D information according to the position of objects from near to far distances up to 250 m. These sensors can be applied in various fields such as automotive range imaging and wide-area surveillance.
Furthermore, the increasing use of time-of-flight technology in autonomous mobile robots is expected to create an opportunity for the time-of-flight sensor market during the forecast period. In addition, the growing adoption of time-of-flight sensors in smartphones for photography and 3D facial mapping for facial unlocking would fuel the growth of the market in the coming years.
The top five companies in the time-of-flight sensor market are Infineon Technologies AG; Sony Group Corp; STMicroelectronics NV; Teledyne e2v (Overseas) Holdings; and Texas Instruments Inc. The above listing of key players is derived by considering multiple factors such as overall market insights, dynamic trends, revenue, new product launches, market initiatives, investment in technology up-gradation, mergers & acquisitions, and other joint activities. A few of the important market initiatives and product developments from the industry are mentioned below:
| Year | News | Country |
| 2023 | Teledyne e2v, a part of Teledyne Technologies, announced the release of its Hydra3D+, a new Time-of-Flight (ToF) CMOS image sensor which incorporates 832 x 600-pixel resolution and is tailored for versatile 3D detection and measurement | North America |
| 2022 | STMicroelectronics announced the launch of new high-resolution time-of-flight sensors for advanced 3D depth imaging for smartphones and other devices. The VD55H1 sensor maps 3D surfaces by measuring the distance to around half a million points and helps detect objects up to 5 m from the sensor. | Europe |
| 2022 | TDK Corporation introduced the Chirp ICU-10201 and ICU-20201, high-performance and ultra-low power integrated ultrasonic time-of-flight sensors for short and long-range detection. The company claims that new MEMS sensors provide accurate range measurements up to a distance of 5 m over a wide and configurable field of view on any surface and under any lighting condition. | APAC |
