MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS) MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

• Heating issues of sensors
• High cost

Global Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Market Drivers:

Rise in use of smartphones across the globe to fuel market growth

Different types of MEMS sensors such as gyroscope, pressure sensors, and accelerometers among others are utilized in smartphones. The use of these sensors is for keeping track on parameters and to provide a centralized system for automatic control. The companies involved in smartphone manufacturing are increasing the MEMS sensors in smartphones to improve the interface experience as well as to gain competitive edge in the market. For instance, in 2013, Apple became the first major company from the U.S. to launch touch ID having MEMS sensors in iPhone 5S. This trail is being followed by most of the manufacturers in smartphone industry. Thus, this factor will boost growth of the market in the near future.

Rise in popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) to boost market pace

IoT is known to be the internetworking of most of the applications such as refrigerators, smartphones, microwaves, and buildings. IoT makes use of electronic software, actuators, and sensors to connect all the things to a common network. Internet of Things technology is growing increasingly in terms of amount of connected devices. According to the Coherent Market Insights, it has increased to 23 billion in 2016 from 9 billion in 2012. Thus, rapidly increasing popularity of IoT is expected to propel growth of the global microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market over the forecast period.

• Rise in use of smartphones across the globe
• Rise in popularity of Internet of Things (IoT)

Global Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Market Opportunities:

Growing automotive sector around the world is expected to offer lucrative business opportunities in the global microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market during the forecast period. The automotive industry uses 20 MEMS devices per car. Moreover, the popular concept of autonomous cars is based on the data that is gathered by different MEMS sensors such as accelerometer, speed sensors, proximity sensors, position sensors, and others. Thus, growing adoption of fully autonomous cars is creating several growth opportunities in the market. For instance, in October 2016, Google conducted testing of its driverless car in the U.K. for a 1 km stretch.

Rise in adoption of wearable devices is providing market players with several growth opportunities in the global microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market. Wearable devices such as heartbeat monitoring devices, wearable fitness trackers, and health trackers comprise several MEMS sensors like temperature detector, speedometer, and accelerometer among others. The use of these sensors is to collect data regarding respective parameters and turn them into digital form to display on the screen. Thus, growing adoption of wearables is creative multiple opportunities in the market.  

Global Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Market Restraints:

Heating issues of sensors to restrain the market growth

Sensors can cause heating issues and reduce the battery life in devices that are utilized for long time such as laptops, smartphones, cameras, and others. The use of sensors causes reduced battery life in devices, as batteries are used as their power source. Thus such issues of high cost and heating issues related to use of sensors are expected to hinder growth of the market. However, market players are working improving the quality of MEMS for reducing their power needs, which in turn support growth of the market over the forecast period.

High cost to hinder adoption of MEMS

The microelectroechanical systems are used for enhancing automation in electronic devices; however, the use of these systems incurs high cost, due to which they are avoided in cost-effective applications. The R&D stage for any type of novel MEMS design or device is highly expensive. The cost of upfront setup for foundry facilities and fabrication cleanrooms of MEMS is also significantly high. The cost of assembly and fabrication units for low quantities is high, which is why MEMS are consider unsuitable for niche applications, as long as the cost is not a hindrance. Moreover, the cost required for testing equipment for characterizing the performance and quality can also be expensive. Thus, this factor is likely to impede growth of the market during the forecast period.