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iPhone's popularity helps boost MEMS market

As the iPhone's demand spurs Apple's competitors to offer products with comparable MEMS-supported features, iSuppli estimates that by the end of 2008 10% of the 1.29 billion mobile devices shipped worldwide will include MEMS accelerometers, up from 2% at the end of 2007.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- EDN, 12/29/2008

Apple Inc isn't the only company benefiting from the popularity of the iPhone. According to a recent report from iSuppli Corp, the handset is spurring competitors to offer products with comparable features, which in turn is fueling a sales boom for MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) accelerometers used to detect motion in smart phones.

“Apple’s visionary use of MEMS accelerometers that support the automatic switch from landscape to portrait view on the iPhone display has prompted a flood of competitors to follow suit,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, principal analyst for MEMS at iSuppli, in a statement.

Indeed, handset makers are responding to consumers' cries for such devices. Early holiday season data suggests RIM's Blackberry Storm, a competitor to Apple's iPhone, will be among the most-purchased electronics for the gift-giving season.

“Mobile handset makers now are adopting accelerometers for this purpose and for other human-interface or power-savings applications, causing sales growth of MEMS for this application to exceed all expectations. Because of this, the mobile-handset industry has become the driver of the MEMS market, starting in the second half of 2008. This is truly a watershed event for the global MEMS business,” Bouchaud said.

ISuppli estimated that by the end of 2008, 10% of the 1.29 billion mobile devices shipped worldwide will include MEMS accelerometers, up from 2% at the end of 2007. In total, the global MEMS accelerometer market is expected to grow to 900 million units in 2012, up from 65 million in 2007, the market research company said.

Global revenue from shipments of all types of MEMS for mobile handsets and smart phones will increase to $1.3 billion by the end of 2012, rising at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 34.4% from $296.8 million in 2007, iSuppli further estimated.

“Mobile-handset accelerometer sales long have been driven by suppliers that are pushing the technology,” Bouchaud said. “However, the market is now demanding this feature, preventing the MEMS industry from falling into the doldrums with most of the rest of the electronics market.”

Accelerometer suppliers like STMicroelectronics, Bosch, Analog Devices, and Kionix are the major beneficiaries of the increased use of MEMS accelerometers for mobile handsets, iSuppli believes.

ISuppli also pointed to video game console controllers as another bright spot for MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers, with their revenue growing at a CAGR of 11% to reach $240 million in 2012. The CAGR is thanks to their adoption in platforms like the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3.

ISuppli further said that PCs also will be a hotbed for MEMS demand in the coming years.

“MEMS motion sensors that detect free-fall in laptops to help protect their hard disk drives (HDDs) have become a standard feature for commercial products, and will begin to significantly penetrate consumer models in 2009,” Bouchaud said. “Digital MEMS microphones also will become a more prevalent feature in laptops to enhance Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications. These two applications will grow at a CAGR of about 22% to reach $182 million in 2012, up from $68 million in 2007.”

In terms of volume, the largest product sectors for all types of MEMS are accelerometers and microphones, followed by film bulk acoustic resonator filters, iSuppli said.