With increasing usage of electronics (across industries) and stringent standards for quality, safety, and environmental, the demand for test and measurement (T&M) equipment is expected to rise in near future.

Test and measurement (T&M) equipment find application in the initial design, development, verification, maintenance, and repair of various electronic and mechanical products.  Electronics industry is primarily considered to the growth driver of T&M equipment in the country. T&M equipment are used for testing and measuring in electronic devices such as cellphones, digital cameras, MP3 players, solar inverters, etc. According to TechNavio, the T&M equipment market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.24% over the period 2015-2019.

Test and measurement equipment market in India can be segmented into three product segments general purpose, wireless communications and fiber optic. The current market for general-purpose T&M equipment is estimated at worth over $ 200 million. Some of the leading vendors of T&M equipment are Agilent Technologies, Anritsu, JDS Uniphase, Rohde & Schwarz and Spirent Communications.

Some of the mechanical products that have the use of test and measurement equipment include turbines, automotive car suspensions, and aircraft propulsion systems. Depending on end-user requirements, T&M equipment use can vary from simple to complex automated devices. Test and measurement equipment enhance the efficiency, reliability, and accuracy of electronic/mechanical products.

Market opportunities

Some of the major drivers for T&M equipment industry include the increasing usage of electronics (across industries); growing need to validate the performance of equipment; and stringent standards for quality, safety, and environmental. In addition, the government initiatives such as Make in India, Smart Cities, indigenising defence equipment manufacturing, Digital India, etc are also pushing the demand for T&M equipment.

Sectors such as telecom, defence, automotive, electronics, aerospace, etc are increasing allocations in the areas of product design, testing and quality of service improvement. T&M industry is capitalising on this trend as it plays an important role in every phase of the product life cycle.

“The growing demand for bandwidth, multiple devices and increasingly complex network architecture will continue fuelling growth in the T&M market. The key driving factors would be the explosion in telecom and data services in the aerospace/defence sector. The sector may witness the emergence of specialised companies and also consolidation. This will segregate pure-play hardware and T&M system companies,” said Abinash Ghosh, Director - Business Development, OdiTek Solutions, in a Blog on the social networking site LinkedIn.

According to the TechNavio report, one of the main drivers in this market is the increase in R&D investment. Advantages such as high growth potential and relatively low manufacturing costs help to bring more technological innovations through continuous R&D.

Megatrends such as connected living, big data, smart cities and wearable computing are driving the communications test equipment market. In a digitalised world, the complexity of smart devices, networks and applications are creating the need for customised testing and monitoring solutions.

One key trend in the market is the need for compatibility of test equipment. The need for compatibility of test equipment is the main focus of T&M equipment vendors when developing new products. The continuously evolving technology has made the product lifecycle of T&M equipment short, thereby requiring new T&M equipment to test new technology. This has created a need for T&M vendors to develop new equipment capable of testing new technologies and are also compatible with old technologies.

Telecom: The prime growth engine

Testing & measurement requirements have changed over time with the evolving standards in the telecom industry. Telecom industry has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past two decades and with an increasing subscriber base, the deployment of next-generation technologies and unprecedented data traffic, network complexity has also increased. This market is mainly driven by two considerations – performance and conformance of the equipment and systems to industry standards. While performance specifications are tested as per the manufacturer’s references, conformance parameters are evaluated to meet the concerned industry standards.

Ghosh said, “The key growth drivers of the T&M industry are the introduction of new telecom technologies, explosion of data/video services, roll-out of 4G services, new quality of service (QoS) demands resulting from the increase in call drops, conformity to radiation specifications, spectrum management, etc.”

In September 2017, the Department of Telecommunications issued a notification mandating equipment makers to get their products tested and certified from the agency or body authorised by the DoT before selling or importing them in India. This order comes into effect from October 1, 2018. For this, the government plans to set up labs and testing centres which will go a long way in addressing the problems faced by operators while simultaneously opening up new opportunities for T&M players in the country.

Rentals on rise

One of the key challenges faced by industry is price sensitivity of consumers buying T&M equipment. Customers in the market are very price conscious and tend to purchase low-priced T&M equipment at the expense of quality and added features. Renting equipment on rent can be a viable solution to this problem.

The inherent characteristic of the T&M market is such that the evolving telecom standards render T&M equipment obsolete quickly. Next generation technologies are emerging rapidly and new industry standards are being adopted. This means that key test requirements are continuing to evolve. With everything in a constant state of flux, there is a risk that purchased equipment will quickly become outdated and effectively made redundant. Therefore, rental is an attractive alternative to direct purchase, as the customer is not tied down to any item of equipment for long time and can opt for new equipment depending upon their changing test requirements.

Experts believe that T&M on rent is good option for shorter projects, while buying new T&M will be cost-effective for longer use. In the last few years, the rental market has gained traction as it allows the customer flexibility to switch to the latest equipment without incurring significant investment.

As a result rental companies that have good quality equipment, flexible rental options and an expansive portfolio of products are in position to capitalise on the opportunities that lie ahead in the coming year.

Miniaturisation: The game changer

Thanks to the growing demand for portable devices and connected environment due the Internet of Things (IoT) consumers are looking to adopt on-site testing. This is also leading to miniaturising of test and measurement equipment. Miniaturised T&M equipment are flexible and easy to use. The fast growth of the market in the electronics industry is leading to the development of small-sized electronic devices for which miniaturised test and measurement equipment are required. For instance, the test and measurement equipment used in consumer electronics and other minute components need to be very small in size. Hence, the vendors are moving toward the trend of miniaturisation.

Digital convergence

The rapid evolution towards higher frequencies and wider modulation bandwidth, coupled with the advent of technologies such as 5G, is creating growth opportunities for advanced T&M equipment. According to Ghosh, 5G has the potential to revolutionise many industries such as telecommunications, automotives, energy, health care and more. The technology is expected to be several times faster than 4G and would provide a backdrop for the billions of devices to be connected to the internet as it would boost M2M communication and the internet of things (IoT) market.

The demand for communication test and measurement solutions is on a rise on account of growing bandwidth demand and introduction of next generation cellular and wireless technologies. In addition, increased R&D spending in telecommunication sector coupled with growth in mobile phone market have fueled market momentum.

Advancements in digital convergence have made it possible to monitor & control T&M instruments remotely. Devices under test are moving away from single purpose, hardware centric entities with limited capability to multipurpose, software-centric entities with endless capability. T&M equipment industry is following the same track. Today, T&M market is increasingly adopting a software-defined approach towards instrumentation, which allows expeditious upgradation of solutions as per changing network and technology requirements.

Over the next three to five years, the level of productivity and collaboration delivered by software centric ecosystems will have a profound effect on test system design.