May 9, 2012 — Texas Instruments Inc. (TI, TXN) remained the top manufacturer of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) in 2011 with $779.0 million in MEMS revenues, fending off runners-up Hewlett Packard Co. and Bosch in tough competition for market share, according to an IHS iSuppli MEMS Market Brief report.

The top 10 MEMS players had combined revenue of $4.7 billion, up 12% from $4.2 billion in 2010. TI was followed by Hewlett-Packard (HP), Bosch, STMicroelectronics (ST, STM), Canon, Panasonic, Denso, Knowles Electronics, Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), and Epson.

Table. Worldwide revenue forecast for MEMS IDM and fabless manufacturers, excluding foundries ($M). SOURCE: IHS iSuppli Research, May 2012.

Bosch and ST had much larger revenue jumps than the 2 top suppliers, which could indicate more competition for #1 in the near future.

Freescale Semiconductor, a former member of the top 10 MEMS makers, fell out of the rankings to #11.

TI’s MEMS revenue fell 4% from 2010 to 2011, owing in part to supply chain disruptions caused by the 3/11 Japan earthquake. Sales of digital light processing (DLP) MEMS chips kept TI on top in 2011, said Jérémie Bouchaud, director and senior principal analyst for MEMS & sensors at IHS. The DLP business was what helped propel TI to the top spot in 2010, rebounding in the business and education front-projector segment. “Sales are especially strong in China and India,” Bouchard notes, where DLP-based projectors have taken market share from liquid crystal displays (LCD). While front-projection designs are growing, rear-projection DLP TVs have virtually disappeared. From 2004 to 2009, this trend erased 31% of TI’s MEMS revenue.

TI also found success in pico-projectors, a still relatively small portion of its MEMS business at <$50 million of MEMS revenues. The company is the top supplier of pico-projectors for both accessory and embedded projectors such as those found in the Beam handset from Samsung Electronics. The product segment will be a main growth driver at TI over the next 5 years.

TI also introduced a MEMS temperature sensor, or thermopile, in 2011, targeting new handsets and tablets. Thermopiles monitor the temperature of the case to help optimize processor operation. Thermopiles will start to contribute to TI’s MEMS business in 2012 or 2013.

Hewlett-Packard also lost 4% of revenues from 2010 to 2011, coming in with $748.4 million from its MEMS business. HP held the #1 rank from 2005 to 2009, but suffers from price erosion in its MEMS thermal actuators, used in inkjet printheads. HP has lower shipments of disposable printheads as well, since it started migrating to permanent ones in 2005.

The Bosch Group GmbH held onto #3 with revenue of $742.2 million, shooting up 15% from 2010. Bosch saw growth in automotive MEMS as new vehicle safety products ramp up with inertial and pressure sensors. The vehicle airbag market grew rapidly in China as well, and side airbag applications rose in the United States.

STMicroelectronics saw 82% revenue growth in MEMS — the largest of any in the rankings — to $651.6 million. ST maintained its historical lead in accelerometers, with 50% of all consumer accelerometer revenue in 2011 for such applications as handsets, tablets, laptops and gaming. As consumer accelerometers start to slow, STMicroelectronics is expected to focus on other MEMS devices, including 3-axis gyroscopes, MEMS microphones, and pressure sensors. In 2011, gyroscopes accounted for 55% of MEMS revenue at STM, up from 32% in 2010 and <1% in 2009.

Canon saw a 4% increase in revenues with $368.7 million, the only major inkjet head manufacturer to see a revenue increase in 2011.

Access the IHS iSuppli MEMS Market Brief report.

IHS (NYSE: IHS) provides information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape. For more information, visit www.ihs.com.

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