ABI Research has released a new market research report titled ‘MEMS Vendors: A Competitive Analysis’, which features profiles of 50 MEMS vendors and in-depth analysis on 15 key vendors.
MEMS vendors covered in the report include major companies such as Freescale Semiconductors, Texas Instruments, Bosch and STMicroelectronics as well as suppliers with comparatively small MEMS product portfolios, including Memstech, InvenSense and VTI. Every vendor is competing for a share of market that is expected to reach over $1.5 billion in 2016 for MEMS sensors and audio equipment in tablets and smartphones alone.
Some sectors of the MEMS industry have demonstrated considerable growth prospects, including microphones and MEMS inertial sensors. The demand from media tablet and smartphone markets is the key factor behind this robust growth. ABI Research’s Peter Cooney stated that the MEMS Industry is passing through a transition period as experienced by other semiconductor market segments when nearing maturity. Major vendors recognize that their success in consumer electronics markets depends on their economies of scale and ability to provide extensive range of solutions, he added.
When markets approach maturity, component integration is the way to be successful, which decreases board space and BOM cost, while facilitating design ease and reducing market-reach time to customers. As a result, vendors are forcing to diversify and augment product portfolios, ensuing merger and acquisition activities in the MEMS industry. It has been predicted that in the future years, a lesser number of vendors will be involved in bulk MEMS markets since acquisition of companies by dominant market players will become the norm in order to expand their product portfolio and attain leadership in the market.