Microphones in cell phones, accelerometers in consumer gaming applications and optical MEMS for TVs are among the products that are driving the market for micro-electromechanical systems.
SEMI has just published details of a new survey: Worldwide MEMS Systems Market Forecasted to Reach $95 Billion By 2010. MEMS, micro-electromechanical systems, are the bits in airbags that tell them went to inflate. They are also in display systems and inkjet cartridges.
The SEMI story says that MEMS devices "are defined as die-level components of first-level packaging, and include pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, digital mirror displays, micro fluidic devices, etc". The market for MEMS was $48 billion in 2005, "and is expected to top $95 billion by 2010".
The news item quotes Lubab Sheet, senior director of Emerging Technologies at SEMI, as saying: “The MEMS industry is being driven by a range of new applications in the consumer sector such as MEMS microphones in cell phones, accelerometers in consumer gaming applications, optical MEMS for TVs, MEMS resonators in lieu of quartz oscillators for time keeping, and in the coming years, micro fuel cells.”
Just as nano hysteria can overlook the micro area, it is also easy to forget that both need materials that people can turn into products, not to mention the equipment needed to process those materials. SEMI doesn't make this mistake. It has a table showing how the markets for these will also grow:
Markets |
2005 |
2010 |
Compound Annual Growth Rate |
|
MEMS Materials |
$385 million |
$771 million |
15% |
|
MEMS Equipment |
$631million |
$861 million |
6% |
|
MEMS Devices |
$5.3 billion |
$9.9 billion |
13% |
|
MEMS Systems |
$48 billion |
$95 billion |
15% |
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