MEMS and sensors: A market in motion

PHOENIX, USA: Smart phones are a booming market. MEMS and sensors are a booming market. Together, they constitute a "can't-lose" market that is impossible to ignore. Semico Research has just released a report, titled "MEMS and Sensors: A Market in Motion," that specifically addresses the MEMS and Sensor content in smart phones.

With each generation, smart phones are becoming more feature rich. MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) and sensors are important components that enable many of these features. MEMS devices offer not only additional functionality but also smaller size and lower power consumption. This makes MEMS very attractive to the smartphone market.

Semico has identified a dozen functions in a smartphone that either have a MEMS solution now, or could potentially migrate to MEMS. Penetration rates, unit shipments, ASPs, and revenues for these MEMS and sensor devices are all included in this report.

Smart phones are expected to grow 30.8 percent this year over 2010, with units approaching half a billion. MEMS and sensors for smartphones are highly fragmented markets with many chip vendors involved in different areas. Semico estimates that the total TAM for MEMS and sensors in the smartphone market will reach $3.0 billion in 2011, an annual growth of 52.7 percent. Semico's complete smart phone forecast is also included in this study.