Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones are set to enjoy another blockbuster year in 2012 as the devices find continued strong adoption in many portable electronic items, including the wildly popular iPhone and iPad from top purchaser Apple Inc., according to an IHS iSuppli MEMS market brief from information and analysis provider IHS.
Revenue this year for MEMS microphones is projected to reach $493.5 million, up a solid 32 percent from $373.2 million in 2011. This year’s expansion continues the mighty path of growth seen by the tiny devices following last year’s remarkable 64 percent increase, and the next few years also will see healthy prospects for the space.
By 2015, MEMS microphone revenue will hit approximately $667.0 million, equivalent to a five-year compound annual growth rate of 24 percent starting from 2010. Shipments in 2015 will amount to some 2.9 billion units.
MEMS microphones are very small devices that employ a pressure-sensitive diaphragm etched on a semiconductor. The microphones are commonly employed in cellphones, headsets, notebook PCs and video cameras, replacing conventional electret condenser microphones (ECM) while providing greater clarity and reception of sound for the commands spoken by users into their devices.
The rapid growth of the market is due to a combination of factors. First, MEMS penetration in handsets continues unabated, deepening to 50 percent in 2011 from 38 percent the year before. Handsets, in fact, make up the top application device. Second, there has been a rapid adoption of multiple micro- phones in smartphone devices for noise compression—particularly important for voice commands such as those used in the Siri speech-recognition feature of the iPhone 4S. Finally, MEMS microphones are becoming more widely used in a growing number of devices, including laptops, tablets, gaming consoles and cameras.
The Top Buyers and Suppliers
Not surprisingly, Apple was the top buyer of MEMS microphones in 2011, accounting for roughly 32 percent of the market, up from 23 percent in 2010. Apple uses two analog MEMS microphones in its iPhone 4 and 4S phones, one analog MEMS microphone in the headset sold with the iPhone, and one digital MEMS microphone for Pad 2 tablets.
Also an important buyer of MEMS microphones is Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the top purchaser until it was superseded last year by Apple. Samsung uses dual MEMS microphones for its handsets, and microphones are also utilized in the company’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Samsung’s share in 2011 was roughly where it was in 2010, hovering in the 23 percent, range, allowing Apple to jump ahead of the South Ko- rean electronics giant.
Other notable MEMS microphones buyers include LG Electronics for its phones and G-Slate tablet; as well as Motorola Inc., an early adopter via its Razr phones as early as 2003.
Among suppliers, Illinois-based Knowles Electronics continues to dominate the market, though its share of MEMS microphone shipments has fallen from 88 percent in 2010 to 75 percent last year. Knowles supplies to Apple, Samsung, LG and Motorola.
Also figuring prominently in the supply chain are ECM suppliers that now have begun to expand their portfolios by including MEMS microphones. Within this group, AAC Inc. from Hong Kong is the most successful to date with 11 percent market share in 2011, functioning also as a second source to Knowles for the iPhone 4 and 4S. AAC, together with other Chinese-based ECM makers GoerTek Inc., Hosiden and BSE Co. Ltd, shipped more than 200 million MEMS microphones in 2011, with each buying MEMS dies from German outfit Infineon Technologies AG.
The No. 3 supplier in 2011 was Analog Devices Inc. of Massachusetts, thanks to its design win with the digital MEMS microphone in the Apple iPad 2. The company also sells into some niche applications, including teleconference equipment.
Other important MEMS microphone suppliers are Bosch-acquired company Akustica Inc. from Pennsylvania, which in 2011 sold tens of millions of digital MEMS microphones for use in laptops, up from less than 4 million in 2010; and Italian-French entity STMicroelectronics, a top supplier also of digital MEMS microphones.
Digital MEMS Microphones to Gain the Fast Track
While MEMS microphones can be analog and are often used for the acoustic function in handsets, digital microphones yield several advantages. For instance, changes in design are easy to implement in the device for which the microphones are intended, and time to market is also shorter. Digital microphones are less sensitive to electromagnetic interference, and an increased Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR) simplifies architecture and improves audio quality. In the case of noise suppression with three or more microphones, the signal from digital microphones is easier to process than from analog.
Aside from their use in handsets, digital microphones also provide better immunity to electromag- netic interference when used in laptops, especially in Voice over IP (VoIP) applications.
Though currently more expensive than comparable surface-mountable (SMD) digital ECMs, digital MEMS microphones will become more competitive, IHS believes, leading to their rapid adoption for the foreseeable future. Nokia Corp. started to increase the share of digital MEMS microphones in its hand- sets during the second half of 2011—a trend that will continue with other handset manufacturers in the next two years.
Apple also has started implementing digital MEMS microphones on its iPad 2, and the next iPhone version is expected to use multiple digital MEMS microphones.
Learn More > MEMS Microphones Go Digital in 2012