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MEMS and sensors ASIC maker ACAM acquired by AMS

Austrian company AMS, a provider of sensors and analog IC solutions, has acquired German-based ASIC maker ACAM.  The acquisition should strengthen ACAM's ASIC product portfolio for sensors applications due to AMS' much larger R&D, sales, and manufacturing resources.  ACAM was founded 18 years ago and its unique ASIC platform is based on the company's time-to-digital (TDC) technology.  AMS, formerly known as austriamicrosystems, currently has more than 1,700 employees in 20 countries.  The company reported revenues of $614 million and net income of $108 million in 2014.  "This was a good time for us to be acquired by ams because we are entering mass markets such as MEMS based sensors and ultrasonic gas and water meters, and we needed an investor for these strong growth goals," said ACAM's CEO Augustin Braun.

Industrial IoT applications drive demand for MEMS devices

The rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving demand growth for MEMS devices in application areas such as asset tracking systems, smart grid and building automation.  Worldwide market revenue for MEMS devices directly used in industrial IoT equipment applications will rise to $120 million in 2018, up from $16 million in 2013, according to the market research firm IHS.  Additional MEMS devices also will be used to support the deployment of the IoT, such as components employed in data centers.  This indirect market for industrial IoT MEMS will increase to $214 million in 2018, from $43 million in 2013.

MEMS foundry Tronics seizes sub-micron MEMS opportunities

Tronics has been manufacturing MEMS devices for 15 years with an emphasis on SOI and WLP, and has focused on specialized MEMS fabrication processes.  As such, the company said recently that it is capitalizing on the growing number of sub-micron MEMS devices opportunities to expand its equipment and process base.  According to Tronics, over the past two years the company has been acquiring advanced equipment and allocated significant resources to the development of sub-micron MEMS processes, which combine traditional MEMS structures and advanced nanotechnology parts.  There are a growing number of opportunities for sub-micron MEMS devices in optical, and also in inertial and microfluidics applications.

Wearable sensor market to expand sevenfold in five years

Driven by rising demand for fitness and health monitoring features as well as by improved user interfaces, shipments of sensors used in wearable electronic devices will rise by a factor of seven from 2013 through 2019, according to IHS Technology.  The worldwide market for sensors in wearables will expand to 466 million units in 2019, up from 67 million in 2013.  Shipments of sensors will climb much more quickly than the market for the wearable devices themselves.  Wearable devices will increase to 135 million units in 2019, less than three times the total of 50 million in 2013.  According to IHS, the average wearable device shipped in 2019 will incorporate 4.1 sensor elements, up from 1.4 in 2013.

Si-Ware developing portfolio of disruptive MEMS products

While some of the MEMS companies continue to face downward price pressures, there are many new products, devices and technologies that are in development.  Many of these innovations will be launched in the marketplace in the coming months.  One company that is contributing to this “new wave” of MEMS is Si-Ware Systems (SWS), based in Cairo, Egypt.  We recently spoke with Dr. Hisham Haddara, SWS’ President and CEO, about his company’s origins, current activities and challenges, business threats and opportunities, and recent marketplace dynamics.  Hisham also discusses their new products, such as the MEMS based single-chip spectrometer and the all-silicon oscillator, which are scheduled to hit the market in 2015.

MEMS based sensor maker InvenSense acquires Movea, Trusted Positioning for $81 million

InvenSense, a provider MEMS based sensor solutions, announced this week that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Movea, a sensor fusion and context awareness software company, and Trusted Positioning (TPI), an indoor and outdoor location tracking software firm.  InvenSense will pay approximately $81 million for acquisition of both firms.  As of March 2014, InvenSense had approximately $117 million in cash and equivalents, so the transaction amount involved in these acquisitions will significantly reduce the company’s cash reserves.  On the other hand, some industry analysts have recently speculated that InvenSense may have won designs for the next generation of Apple’s products such as the iPhone 6, iWatch, and some of the new iPad business.  Interestingly, these two deals were announced just one week after Audience’s announcement that it is acquiring Sensor Platforms, another sensor fusion and context awareness software firm, for $41 million.

Automotive MEMS: an overview of the top ten suppliers

Bosch, based in Germany, was the top supplier in the world last year of automotive MEMS sensors, a market in which shipments continue to expand strongly, but where revenue was being squeezed by marked price erosion, according to a new report from IHS.  With revenues of $740 million, Bosch’s total amounted to more than three times the sales of its nearest competitor, Denso of Japan, which remained in second place, as in 2012.  Together the top ten automotive MEMS suppliers accounted for $2.18 billion worth of revenue, equivalent to 88 percent of the industry total of $2.47 billion. In 2012, the top ten suppliers also had an 88 percent share with the combined revenue of $2.12 billion, out of an industry aggregate of $2.40 billion.

Silex continues to focus on TSV technologies, pure play MEMS foundry model

The marketplace for MEMS foundry services is getting increasingly more competitive and globalized.  Recently, large companies such as TSMC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES have been more aggressive in the MEMS space and, perhaps, are even subsidizing some projects to get more experience with the relevant process technologies.  At the same time, intellectual property (IP) protection is becoming even more important due to the commoditization of some MEMS devices, especially in the consumer electronics segment.  We recently spoke with Edvard Kälvesten, CEO of Silex Microsystems, to discuss his vision for the company, some of the recent changes that were made, his main concerns at this time, and the upcoming milestones for the company in the next few years.

Tronics rides the medical MEMS wave

According to our research, the MEMS market for medical applications is currently approximately $2.1 billion, and is projected to grow at double digit rates for the next decade.  Since MEMS based motion sensors for consumer applications are rapidly getting commoditized, medical MEMS may represent the most lucrative emerging opportunity for MEMS device designers and manufacturers.  Tronics, a MEMS foundry services provider, is already manufacturing MEMS devices for several key players in the medical industry.  The company says that it has made this market segment a priority and wants to grow its medical business to more than $20 million annually within three to five years.  We recently spoke with Herve Borrel, Tronics’ President of North America.

MEMS for consumer electronics: can InvenSense compete with ST and Bosch?

As average selling prices (ASPs) for sensors used in consumer electronics applications continue to drop, the competition among the top MEMS makers has intensified tremendously.  One of the most recent examples of this trend has been the intellectual property dispute between ST and InvenSense, which the latter company agreed to settle with a payment of $15 million.  Additionally, most of the industry analysts now project that while the number of motion sensors shipped for consumer electronics will continue to grow significantly, the revenues coming from these applications will essentially stay flat in 2014.  We recently spoke with Behrooz Abdi, the CEO of InvenSense, about his perspectives on the recent industry trends, as well as his vision for the company, their recent market and financial results, and how they plan to stay competitive in the future.