ST closes in on TI atop MEMS top 30 ranking

SAN JOSE, Calif. – STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments were the leading manufacturers of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) components in 2011 in a market that grew 17 percent to reach $10.2 billion, according to Yole Developpement (Lyon, France). In contrast the semiconductor integrated circuit market grew 0.4 percent in 2011 to a size of $299.5 billion.

In the vibrant MEMS market ST capitalized on exploding demand for motion processing in mobile devices to achieve a 42 percent jump in MEMS sales from 2010 to $907 million. This has taken ST from a ranking of fourth in 2010 to be effectively on a par with Texas Instruments. Yole estimates TI had MEMS sales of $913 million in 2011. TI's more mature micromirror MEMS business saw single-digit growth somewhat slower than ST's inertial sensor business for consumer applications. ST is also a leading foundry supplier of MEMS components.

As in 2010 there is clear top four in MEMS, with Hewlett Packard continuing to be significant on the basis of inkjet printing MEMS production and Robert Bosch, a leading provider of MEMS for automotive applications now ranked fourth. The top four vendors sold $3.3 billion of MEMS products, Yole said. The top 30 companies accounted for almost 80 percent of total MEMS packaged device sales worldwide.

The mobile device market drove 40 percent or better annual growth across a broad range of sensor suppliers, according to Yole. Silicon microphone maker Knowles Electronics jumped from 18th spot on the Yole ranking in 2010 to fifth on 40 percent growth in its sales of MEMS microphones to reach $362 million in sales. Magnetometer supplier AKM jumped 46 percent, to $279 million and eighth place.



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Meanwhile the industry's leading fabless MEMS supplier, InvenSense, saw its sales climb 67 percent to $144 million with multi-axis gyroscope and motion sensing chips. Memsic Inc. entered the top 30 with an 80 percent jump in its magnetometer and accelerometer sales.

High volume consumer applications will continue to dominate the market but it will continue to evolve rapidly, Yole said.

"Growth is now coming from combos of accelerometers and magnetometers and from combos of accelerometers and gyros, which started to ship in volume last year," said Laurent Robin, inertial MEMS analyst at Yole, in a statement. "Companies who make only accelerometers will have to change."

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