Inertial MEMS Market to Grow 5% Annually Between 2006 and 2011

DUBLIN, Ireland /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of World MEMS Inertial Sensors Market to their offering.

MEMS Market
High-Performance MEMS. The high-performance inertial MEMS market is expected to achieve a 5% annual growth rate in the 2006-2011 period. Today, it already represents over $1B value market.

High-performance inertial MEMS applications are fragmented and thus offer numerous business opportunities for a large set of players. For example product-development programs are very dynamic.

Expanding Market for Consumer MEMS. MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers market increased by 55% from 2005 to 2006 and overtook $200 million last year. An average 35% CAGR for the 2006-2011 period is expected. The market dynamic mainly comes from accelerometers: it will represent 65% of the total inertial sales by 2011. Consumer applications will progressively take a 40% share of the total inertial MEMS activity by 2011 (including automotive, medical, industrial, aeronautic, and defense sectors).

The Stakes
For High-Performance MEMS. Accelerometers and gyroscopes are established components of the automotive, aeronautic, and defense area. The high volume of automotive applications is contrasting with defense and aeronautic fields, where fewer units are sold but with a higher added value. It is similar for high-performance MEMS in the medical and industrial fields (small volume, fragmented applications).

For Consumer Electronics. MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes are emerging at a very fast pace in consumer electronics products. Since 1998, MEMS gyroscopes were widely integrated into camcorders to provide optical stabilization features. In 2003, MEMS accelerometers entered consumer applications in large volume as a protection feature for hard disk drives.

In 2006, Nintendo Wii's motion-sensing remote control gave for the first time, public visibility to inertial MEMS. The new attractive human-machine interface from game controls, such as the Wii, is even expected to penetrate the cell phone market.

Inertial MEMS are already spread over a wide range of consumer products, with limited volume. The MEMS industry is very excited and confident. Everyone's attention is focused on what will be the next killer application.

Market Trends
New Market Dynamics for High-Performance Inertial MEMS Markets. The high-performance inertial MEMS field nowadays follows three main market trends:

  • Entry of new players: Siemens VDO and Infineon have announced their plan to enter the components market for the electronic stability control application. Recent achievements of new 10°/h grade MEMS gyroscopes open new possibilities of development for the aeronautic and defense field. European companies could become key challengers of the UAV or guided munitions markets, for example.

     

  • Consolidation: The acquisition of Motorola Automotive by Continental last year is highlighting the interest of Tier 1 suppliers in sensor manufacturing.

     

  • Diversification strategies: For instance, the slow down of the inertial components demand for automotive North America, demonstrates the importance to succeed in industrial and consumer markets (example of VTI new products)

Consolidation to Take Place in MEMS for Consumer Applications
The strong development of MEMS-based consumer electronics applications since 2004 is leading the way for an industry consolidation starting in 2007. Some players seem to have already stopped their 3 axis accelerometer product line.

In the mean time, design wins have mainly been realized by the TOP6 consumer accelerometers manufacturers. Nintendo Wii design win has been attributed to ADI and STM, while Sony has not publicly disclosed their motion sensor suppliers.

Get answers to the following questions:

  • What is the market segmentation of consumer inertial MEMS devices?

     

  • Where is the market today, and what will be its evolution in the next 5 years?

     

  • What are the market drivers and main issues per technology or application?

     

  • What are the key players in automotive, medical, defense, and aeronautic markets?

     

  • What are the evolution scenarios of the MEMS inertial industry—new players entry, consolidation, diversification strategies?

     

  • What are the major drivers and hurdles for the consumer-devices market?

     

  • What are the future trends that will shape the market in the coming years?

Who Should Buy the Report?
This report targets established or new entrant companies working in the inertial MEMS business at component, system, equipment, or material level.

  • Marketing executives of component and system companies will find key figures for their strategic plans and to design offer.

     

  • Sales and business development managers will be able to estimate market potential and get an overview of joint markets.

     

  • Technical directors will have a global overview of the markets and market/technical requirement data to scale their new product development projects

     

  • The report's data will help purchasing departments to evaluate risks or new solutions for their sourcing strategies

For more information, visit the company's Web site.