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News Article

MEMs microphones driving market

The MEMs silicon microphone market has become a hotbed of activity, spurred by record-breaking growth in consumer electronics products such as hearing aids, cellular phones, cordless phones, headsets, and headphones, according to a market analysis of acoustic products from The Information Network.
The MEMs silicon microphone market has become a hotbed of activity, spurred by record-breaking growth in consumer electronics products such as hearing aids, cellular phones, cordless phones, headsets, and headphones, according to a market analysis of acoustic products from The Information Network. The market is geared to reach 5% of the nearly 2 billion microphones sold worldwide in 2005 and grow to 15% of the nearly 3 billion microphones sold in 2008 – a compounded growth rate of 240%.

“There is tremendous opportunity in the MEMs marketplace, as evidenced by a plethora of activity recently,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network. “Currently there are few suppliers, but the list is growing, including several in the U.S.”

MEMS microphones utilize robust processes from the semiconductor industry to make a wide variety of electronic devices smaller, more reliable and cheaper to manufacture, providing significant advantages over existing technology

Knowles Acoustics (Itasca, IL) and Sonion (Denmark) offer a two-chip microphone solution in which the CMOS and MEMS components are on separate chips. Akustica's products employ standard CMOS semiconductor processes and MEMS to fabricate acoustic systems-on-chip in the same chip with analog and digital circuitry, paving the way for a smaller, more integrated product. It is currently the only company that offers a single-chip solution.

Market leader Knowles was acquired by Dover Electronics for $750 million. Akustica (Pittsburgh, PA) received $15 million in Series B round equity funding on top of more that $13 million in prior funding. The major shareholders of MEMS Technology Bhd (Malaysia), which went public in 2004, are negotiating with one of the largest manufacturers of automotive electrical systems in India for the sale of a 20% stake in MEMS for nearly $30 million.

Details of the full report can be found at www.theinformationnet.com
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