Sensors and MEMS market to reach 11.1<em>bn</em> in 2011

Going into 2011, global sales of both Sensors and MEMs are projected to reach nearly USD 11.1 billion in global revenue and 9.6 billion unit shipments. Over the next five years both sales and shipments are expected to experience average annual growth of 12%. Meanwhile, average selling prices will grow just slightly, reaching USD 1.15 in 2011 and growing slightly to USD 1.18 by 2016, reports Electronics.ca Publications. In particular, MEMS foundries have exited from the crisis faster than other segments. This is the result of more system manufacturers that have ceased much of their internal MEMS manufacturing, rapidly increasing the outsourcing of MEMS production. Due to a rapid influx of new demand, MEMS foundries remain extremely active at the moment. This growth helped to attract new players into the MEMS Foundry business. The MEMS and Sensors industries are expected to remain highly profitable over the next several years as OEMs develop new ways to package and integrate MEMS devices into existing systems. Divided into several product categories based on their function, the strongest growth can be found in accelerometers, yaw rate sensors, and gyroscopes which will grow 16 percent annually on average. These product categories have been propelled by strong sales of mobile handsets, gaming controllers, digital cameras, and other consumer electronics devices. These sensors are also finding their way into smarter safety systems like rollover detection, lane departure warming, collision avoidance and automatic parking. Microfluidic MEMS, primarily found in inkjet printheads, as well as in the medical market for dosage and monitoring, will continue to be the largest market segment in 2011 with USD 2.5 billion in global sales. Aside from these aforementioned devices and optical MEMS, temperature and magnetic field sensors, other miscellaneous MEMS and Actuators will remain another key piece of this market, reaching USD 2.4 billion in 2011. In terms of regional segmentation, the four major markets are fairly well distributed by revenue for Sensors and MEMS. Asia Pacific, including China, Taiwan, South Korea, and others, remains the largest in 2011 with USD 4.6 billion in estimated sales. Over the nex 5 years sales will expand faster here than any other region, growing 14% annually on average to reach USD 9 billion by 2015. Japan will remain the second largest region with USD 2.3 billion in sales and a CAGR of 12%. The Americas are the third largest individual region with USD 2.1 billion, followed closely by Europe with just over USD 2 billion in projected 2011 revenue. The majority of market sales are resulting from the computer segment, particularly in Microfluidic MEMS in inkjet and laserjet printers, which will account for USD 2.9 billion or 26% of the total estimated 2011 market share. The industrial segment will be the second largest market by sales with USD 2.6 billion in revenue, followed by the automotive space with nearly USD 2.4 billion and the consumer market with almost USD 2.1 billion in 2011 sales. The communications industry, while the smallest by market share, with just USD 1.3 billion estimated for 2011, will experience the market’s strongest growth rates of 16% annually on average until 2016. In terms of individual production values, Microfluidic MEMS will remain the largest single segment by revenue, reaching USD 2.5 billion in sales and 1.4 billion unit shipments for 2011. Accelerometers, Gyroscopes, and Yaw Rate Sensors will overtake Optical MEMS are the second largest application market by sales in 2011 with USD 1.9 billion. This product segment will experience the market’s strongest overall growth of 16 percent on average over the next five years. Also, the category of other miscellaneous MEMS and actuators will account for a combined USD 2.4 billion in 2011, with a strong average growth rate of 14% annually over the forecasted period.