Microwave Devices Market Trends

Market Driver - Rising Demand for Medical Instruments Equipped with Microwave Devices

The microwave devices market is witnessing significant growth due to rising demand for medical instruments equipped with microwave technology. Microwave radiation has widely been used in various medical applications such as diathermy, microwave ablation, and hyperthermia to treat a variety of diseases. In diathermy, microwave energy is used to gently heat deep muscles and joints to provide pain relief for conditions such as arthritis, sprains, and muscle strains.

On the other hand, rising cancer incidence globally has augmented the demand for minimally invasive ablation techniques. According to WHO, cancer burden is expected to rise by over 60% in the next 20 years majorly impacting developing nations. This in turn is bolstering the requirement of technologically sophisticated microwave ablation devices with improved features for better treatment outcomes.

Moreover, availability of favorable reimbursement for such ablation procedures in developed countries is encouraging widespread adoption. With ongoing refinement, microwave-based medical solutions are likely to permeate other therapy areas as well over the coming years thereby driving substantial growth of microwave devices markets.

Market Driver - Expansion of 5G Technology Infrastructure

The microwave devices market is further witnessing an upsurge owing to rapid expansion of 5G infrastructure globally. Development of such networks requires deployment of advanced high-frequency microwave components such as power amplifiers, antennas, switches, duplexers at macro base stations and small cells across coverage areas. According to recent studies, 5G infrastructure build-out would necessitate over 200 million microwave devices by the end of this decade.

5G deployments are rapidly progressing especially across major economies to reap benefits of high-speed connectivity. Countries are undertaking mega projects and investing billions of dollars to accelerate nationwide 5G rollouts and upgrade existing cellular infrastructure. This has created a surge in demand for advanced 5G microwave equipment such as phased arrays, active antenna systems and filters.

Microwave technologies continue to remain the preferred medium for 5G backhaul over long haul links. It is mainly due to their high performance, reliability and flexibility. This will drive growth for the microwave devices market.

Market Challenge - High Cost Associated with Microwave Device Technology

One of the major challenges impacting the growth of the microwave devices market is the high cost associated with microwave device technology. Developing microwave devices requires highly specialized components and materials that make the production process expensive.

In addition, the fabrication of these devices requires expensive capital-intensive wafer fabs and equipment tailored for III-V compound semiconductor production. This raises the fixed costs for microwave device manufacturers substantially. The high manufacturing costs are further increased due to the precision and miniaturization required for microwave devices.

The high costs restrict the affordability and large-scale proliferation of microwave technology especially in consumer applications. It hinders the commercialization potential of new entrants who find it challenging to price their products competitively. Unless manufacturing costs are reduced substantially, the high cost of equipment and components will remain a major restraining factor negatively impacting the long-term mass market potential of the microwave devices industry.

Market Opportunity - Rapid Commercialization in the Telecom Industry

One of the key growth opportunities for the microwave devices market is the rapid proliferation of 5G networks globally. 5G networks rely heavily on millimeter-wave frequencies between 24 GHz and 100 GHz for higher bandwidth capabilities. This opens up a massive demand for associated microwave components like RF filters, duplexers, power amplifiers, antenna tuners and phase shifters from telecom operators rolling out 5G infrastructure.

In addition, growing mobile data traffic is prompting telecom operators to extensively deploy small cells and increase the density of existing macro cell sites. This is creating demand for low-cost microwave backhaul products. Moreover, rapidly expanding applications of radar, satellite and wireless communication technologies also augur well for the microwave devices industry

If capitalized properly through innovative new product development, these high growth domains in the microwave devices market can help offset fluctuations in the telecom industry cycles. It can also significantly boost the commercial opportunities for the global microwave devices market over the long run.