MEMS microphones turn up volume with 60 percent growth in 212

USA: Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones that provide clear sound in mobile devices made a major splash last year with brisk shipment and revenue growth, thanks to four major applications that helped the market grow by leaps and bounds, according to an IHS iSuppli MEMS & Sensors Special Report.

Shipments of MEMS microphones in 2012 amounted to 2.05 billion units, up a remarkable 57 percent from 1.30 billion in 2011. Shipments this year will climb by another 30 percent to 2.66 billion units, to be followed by at least three more years of notable double-digit-rate increases. By 2016, approximately 4.65 billion MEMS microphones will be shipping.

Revenue also made big gains in 2012, up 42 percent to $582 million, on the way to a projected $1.0 billion by 2016.

“Microphones continue to be one of the biggest success stories in MEMS, with the rapid growth of the device due to its increasing penetration in the four areas of cellphones, laptops, headsets and media tablets,” said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst for MEMS & sensors at IHS. “MEMS microphones also can be found to a lesser extent in applications such as gaming, cameras, televisions and hearing aids, contributing to their broadening use overall, with further utilization coming to set-top boxes this year and to automotive during the next three years.”

Microphones ring up cellphones
For cellphones—by far the top application—penetration of MEMS microphones rose to 69 percent last year, up from 52 percent in 2011 and 38 percent in 2010. In particular, multiple microphones are now being adopted in smartphones for noise suppression, in which the cancellation of ambient sounds is crucial for handsets when carrying out voice commands, like what Siri does in the Apple iPhones.

The total number of microphones per handset is also on the rise: While midrange to high-end smartphones mostly used two microphones in 2010 and 2011, three microphones are fast becoming standard ever since Apple introduced a third device on the back of the iPhone 5 for high-definition video recording.

MEMS microphones are likewise making major headway into media tablets, expected to become the second-ranked application by 2016. Even though the first tablets on the market, such as the initial iPad from Apple and the Galaxy Tab from Samsung Electronics, used electret condenser microphones (ECM), MEMS microphones had started to appear by the second generation of tablets. New use cases for noise suppression and voice commands are expected to add to the total device count moving forward, resulting in as many as four microphones in some tablets in the future.

MEMS microphones were also present in more than half of laptop computers last year, as well as in headsets for the iPhone 4 and 4S.

Manufacturers like mics
The MEMS microphone market is driven by both price and performance considerations. While MEMS microphones remain much more expensive than ECMs—over which MEMS microphones enjoy advantages in reliability, performance and ease of manufacturing—the price gap between the two has been narrowing. Moreover, sound quality and acoustics are becoming important differentiators in mobile devices, with manufacturers like Nokia and Apple willing to pay a significant price premium to obtain better performance and recently migrating to MEMS.

Apple, for instance, used ECMs exclusively for its first iPad and until the iPhone 3GS. Since the iPad 2 and iPhone 4, however, the California-based maker has switched to solely using MEMS microphones.

Both Apple and Samsung were the top consumers of MEMS microphones last year, accounting for a combined 54 percent of all shipped MEMS microphones, well ahead of other significant users like LG Electronics and Motorola.

The top supplier of MEMS microphones was U.S.-based Knowles Electronics, which continued to dominate even though its share of shipments last year slipped to 58 percent, down from 74 percent in 2011, on the face of increased competition. Knowles is a second supplier of MEMS microphones for the iPhone, and is a first supplier for the iPad mini.

Other important MEMS microphone suppliers were AAC and Goertek, both from China and ranked second and third, respectively. In fourth place was Analog Devices Inc. from Massachusetts, the sole supplier in the iPhone 5 of the third microphone—a high-performance, high-revenue-generating part.

Together the four top makers represented nearly 90 percent of MEMS microphone shipments last year, with the remaining portion of the market split among seven other suppliers, including Italian-French supplier STMicroelectronics in fifth place.

Chinese makers figure prominently in the industry—as do Chinese smartphones and handset manufacturers acting as consumers, emerging as a major driving force after utilizing some 200 million MEMS microphone units last year.

Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.