MEMS Investor Journal -- The Largest MEMS Publication in the World

Automotive MEMS sensors to return to healthy growth in 2012

The automotive MEMS sensor market will reach new heights in 2012, leaving behind the ups and downs of the last two years, including the impact of the recent Japan earthquake, according to IHS iSuppli.  Global automotive MEMS sensor revenue will jump a solid 16 percent in 2012 to $2.31 billion on its way to $2.93 billion in 2015.  The years ahead also will see expansion continuing at a healthy clip, with the overall five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2015 projected at 9 percent.

Comparative tablet teardowns reveal iPad design advantages

In the 15 months since the introduction of the iPad, competitive tablet manufacturers still cannot match the design efficiency of Apple's groundbreaking product, according to an IHS iSuppli teardown analysis of eight tablet models.  "Since Apple controls both the operating system and hardware design of the iPad, it is able to attain design efficiencies that other tablet manufacturers cannot," said Wayne Lam, Senior Analyst at IHS.  "These efficiencies become obvious in areas like the memory and the battery, where Apple maintains advantages in cost, space savings and performance compared with every competitor in the business."

EV Group to expand manufacturing, hire 100 more employees

EV Group, a supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, announced this week that it broke ground on expanding the company's manufacturing capacity at its headquarters in Austria earlier this month.  In addition, the company reports that it has witnessed a 40 percent increase in order intake in fiscal year 2011 compared with fiscal 2010, and is currently looking to recruit approximately 100 additional employees.

Maxim acquires MEMS maker SensorDynamics for $130 million

SensorDynamics, a specialist in MEMS and wireless semiconductor products, announced this week that it was acquired by Maxim Integrated Products, which specializes in analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products.  Maxim, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is a Fortune 1000 company.  Maxim is paying approximately $130 million plus the assumption of about $34 million in debt to acquire SensorDynamics.

China smartphone shipments rise

Shipments of smartphones for sale in China are set to soar by a record 53 percent this year, according to new research from the IHS iSuppli.  Domestic smartphone shipments in China will rise to 54.1 million units in 2011, up from 35.3 million units in 2010.  Of the projected domestic total for this year, more than 10 million and 15 million smartphone units will come from the giant Chinese makers ZTE and Huawei, respectively.  By the end of 2015, IHS forecasts that Chinese companies will ship 111.6 million smartphones, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 25.9 percent from 2010.  In contrast, the global smartphone market will grow at a more modest CAGR of 20.7 percent during the same period.

MEMS and condition monitoring of industrial machinery

Condition monitoring refers to the process of monitoring data that is collected from sensory devices on industrial equipment.  By analyzing vibration, acoustic and ultrasonic emissions, temperature, pressure, oil condition, and other machine operating characteristics, factories and plants can prevent unexpected equipment breakdowns and more effectively schedule their maintenance activities, which ultimately improves the efficiency of operations and increases return on assets.  We recently spoke with Yuri Khazanov, President of InCheck Technologies, about his company's MEMS based solution for condition monitoring applications.

Automotive MEMS: solid growth, government mandates are the wild card

Automotive safety systems are found in a growing number of vehicles, and shipments of MEMS devices that are crucial to their operation are increasing even faster.  According to ABI Research, nearly 100 million airbag, tire pressure monitoring, and electronic stability control (ESC) safety systems that use MEMS  devices shipped worldwide during 2010.  These systems contained more than 300 million MEMS chips.  In 2016, approximately 150 million systems are expected to be installed in vehicles, but the number of MEMS devices they contain are projected to rocket to over 830 million units.

RUSNANO invests in MEMS

RUSNANO announced this week that it will be co-investing in the development of MEMS components  for use in sensors, computing and telecommunications equipment.  SiTime, a US based startup company that focuses on MEMS oscillators and silicon timing solutions, is going to be partnering  with  RUSNANO in this initiative.  The project has a total budget of $22 million of which RUSNANO will finance up to $15 million.  The resources will be directed toward expanding SiTime's research base, broadening the geography of its sales, and establishing a development center in Russia.

ST increasing capacity to more than 3 million MEMS sensors a day

STMicroelectronics, a leading supplier of MEMS devices for consumer and portable applications, is significantly increasing its MEMS production capacity to more than 3 million sensors a day, by the end of 2011 to sustain exploding customer demand for high-performance, cost-competitive sensing devices.  "We are leading the MEMS consumer revolution and our mission is to continue to lead the market," said Benedetto Vigna, Group Vice President and General Manager of ST's MEMS, Sensors and High Performance Analog Division.  "We are beefing up our manufacturing machine to anticipate and encourage the adoption of MEMS into such high-growth markets as healthcare, industrial and automotive.  ST is well-positioned to make micro-machined sensors ubiquitous in all domains of life."

Apple becomes second largest buyer of consumer MEMS sensors in 2010

Apple in 2010 rose one rank to become the world's second largest buyer of  MEMS sensors for consumer electronics products and cell phones, as it snapped up parts for products including the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch, new IHS iSuppli research indicates.  The company's purchases of consumer and cell phone MEMS sensors rose by 116.7 percent in 2010, the highest rate of any major buyer.  Apple's purchases rose to $195 million in 2010, up from $90 million in 2009.  This strong increase propelled Apple past Nintendo.  Apple in 2010 also came very close to taking the No. 1 spot, trailing leading purchaser Samsung Electronics by just $5 million.