The wireless charging receiver market grew more than 160 percent to 144 million units in terms of shipments.
Annual shipment of wireless charging receiver market is expected to touch one billion units by 2020 and two billion by 2025, according to IHS Inc.
Samsung Galaxy smartphones, which come with dual-mode Qi and Power-Matters-Alliance- (PMA-) certified low-frequency charging, has retained for this year’s S7 model.
10 percent of smartphones shipped this year will be capable of wireless charging, according to the IHS Wireless Power Receiver Market Report. Wearables are the second largest wireless-charging device category, driven by Apple Watch and Samsung Gear S2. The first high-frequency magnetic resonant receivers are also expected to launch in laptop computers in 2016.
“All wireless charging systems face the challenge of certification, but particularly those with higher power ratings or greater distance from the charger,” said David Green, research manager for wireless power, IHS Technology.
There will be a change in the market in 2016 and new technologies will be available – moving from the emerging proof-of-concept phase to a more mature product-diversification phase.
Shipments of wireless charging receivers to date were nearly all 5 Watt (W) Qi- or PMA-certified low-frequency systems that typically rely on a charging pad; however, less than half of all receivers sold in 2020 will fall into this category.
Diversification exists with the variety of standards available to both manufacturers and consumers, which has slowed adoption in some areas.
The merging of PMA and the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) to form the AirFuel Alliance last year doesn’t yet simplify the standards battle, since the two specifications are not interoperable.
The adoption of wireless charging by Apple iPhone could also introduce another proprietary technology.
“Mainstream commercial launches of uncoupled-technology offerings from companies such as Energous, Ossia, Humavox and uBeam would add further diversification to the market too, although most likely will not occur before 2017 at the earliest,” Green said.
editor@telecomlead.com