Jump in smartphone orders in Q2 lifting silicon MEMs mics

NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Q2 2009 smartphone orders, up nearly 15 percent sequentially, will lift the silicon MEMs microphone market from its worst year since they became commercially available, according to the report: “Silicon Microphones and Speakers: Technology, Market Analysis, and End-Applications,” recently published by The Information Network.

Orders for smartphones reached 41.5 million units in Q2 2009 in anticipation of early Q3 introduction of several new models. Nokia's Ovi Store launched on May 26. On June 6, the long-awaited Palm Pre will launch on the Sprint Network. LG comes back to the market with two new touchscreen-based cellphones. New BlackBerrys are also rumored to be hitting stores soon. I anticipate the iPhone 2009 will be announced next Monday at the Apple WWDC and the new iPhone 2009 out near the end of June.

"The MEMS silicon microphone market has become a hotbed of activity, spurred by record-breaking growth in consumer electronics products such as hearing aids, cellular phones, cordless phones, headsets, and headphones," noted Dr. Robert Castellano, President of The Information Network. "Initial entrants that included Knowles Acoustics, Akustika, and Sonion (Denmark) has grown to include Analog Devices, Wolfson Microelectronics (UK), Freescale, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Omron (Germany)."

China suppliers entered the market in recent years and include Shangdong Goer Acoustics Technology Co. Ltd, Suzhou MEMSensing Microsystems Co. Ltd, and AAC Acoustic Technologies (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.

For 2009, the report forecasts a 5 percent downturn in the cellphone market, from 1,216 million units in 2008 to 1,156 million units in 2009. The smartphone market, which includes the iPhone, will grow 21 percent from 196 million units in 2008 to 238 million units in 2009. This sector is the key growth area for the MEMS microphone.