MEMS moves to the mainstream
10/01/2006
The MEMS market has long been in a state of extreme fragmentation. Even now, according to a new report from France-based market research and consulting firm Yole Développement, MEMS devices are actively being produced by some 300 companies, 250 of which sell less than $20 million worth of products annually. And of these smaller companies, most are building specialized components using their own internal fabs.
But this picture may soon change. During the next five years, more than half of all MEMS producers with internal fabs will turn to established integrated circuit manufacturers for production of MEMS modules, and the IC makers, themselves, will become deeply involved in MEMS manufacturing, according to Jean-Christophe Eloy, GM of Yole. Moreover, within 10 years, MEMS producers with internal fabs will be virtually nonexistent, as greater than 70% of the global MEMS market will have been absorbed by mainstream IC manufacturers.
At the same time, MEMS technology will find its way into mainstream products, as developers increasingly target their products to replace non-silicon devices in mass-market devices. For example, several companies are developing MEMS-based inertial measurement systems to take the place of conventional accelerometers and gyroscopes in automotive and other human-machine applications. Other firms are incorporating MEMS microphones into acoustic modules for cell phones and PCs. And still others are producing MEMS modules to replace optical auto-focus and zoom functions in digital cameras, displays, and projectors.
Beyond this migration of the technology, demand for MEMS modules will increase on several other consumer fronts, including applications in inkjet heads for printers, pressure sensors for tires and other uses, microfluidic devices to deliver fluid samples to microsensors, MOEMS for digital optical micromirror displays, and micro fuel cells to replace batteries in small portable devices.
What’s behind this rapid MEMS market maturation? Economics is clearly the driving force. For MEMS modules to replace existing mass-market technologies, manufacturing costs must be reduced to levels associated with commodity products. Thus, the industry is turning to the production efficiencies gained in traditional chip manufacturing. Indeed, whereas MEMS manufacturing has typically entailed fabricating silicon wafers in one location and then integrating MEMS components on top of the circuitry in another, the current approach calls for performing all steps in the same fab, using the same materials and equipment.
As a result, demand for MEMS equipment and materials is also poised for solid growth. According to Eloy, revenues from sales of MEMS manufacturing equipment will rise from about $650 million to nearly $900 million over the next five years, thanks largely to the growing use of process technologies such as deep reactive ion etch in MEMS manufacturing, as well as of wafer-level bonding equipment in packaging operations. Likewise, sales of materials and chemicals will ramp from just over $400 million at present to nearly $800 million by 2010, with Si and SOI wafers, quartz, and glass materials accounting for the bulk of the market as well as the fastest growth rates.
The potential opportunity for semiconductor manufacturers who can meet MEMS production and cost challenges is also enormous. In the next five years, the global demand for MEMS-based products is projected to double from $5 billion to nearly $10 billion, and in 10 years, the market will top $18 billion, according to Eloy. But what is significant is that 90% of the top 20 semiconductor companies are already involved in MEMS production or R&D. Therefore, the key to entering the MEMS market or to remaining competitive within it is to leverage current customers and expertise-that is, to focus on MEMS products that will be needed in volume by existing customer bases and to manufacture the devices using standard processes-as is the case with any mature market.
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Phil LoPiccolo
Editor-in-Chief