"New" MEMS: out of nowhere to become a $4B market
Industry analysts are great at two things (OK, maybe more than two): 1) coming up with new categories to expand their coverage areas; and 2) covering their butts, sometimes by doing #1. The area of MEMS is a good example. MEMS have enjoyed solid but unspectacular growth over the last decade or so, toiling away in the innards of ink jet printers and air bags. Most people always knew there was something magical about MEMS, with the potential to enable some pretty far out capabilities in applications such as medical devices, alternative energy and ‘situational awareness’ uses that could take advantage of sensors.
But it took the Apple, and its latest iPhone and iPad products, both of which contain multiple MEMS, to add some pizzazz to MEMS, not to mention dizzying market forecasts. So when it became apparent that things like gyroscopes and accelerometers had finally cracked the consumer market, the industry pundits were quick to pile on. Now there is a category called “New MEMS” which ostensibly categorizes the use of MEMS by the sexiness of the application (sexiness being largely defined as the market opportunity). New MEMS are essentially those that are now found in consumer products like mobile/smart phones, tablets and games. The experts have forecast that the market for new MEMS will grow at a rate of 157% this year. Obviously, much more interesting markets than ink jets.
The iPad is a killer app for MEMS, too
Regardless of what you call them, MEMS in consumer markets require a different design approach, which is where Coventor fits in. They have long supplied design tools to traditional (dare we call them ‘old’?) MEMS developers. But the market pace and cost requirements for “new” MEMS is really what is new in the MEMS world. Unlike traditional MEMS markets, consumer markets need new products every few months and can’t afford the typical costs of the ‘one product, one process’ that the dedicated MEMS manufacturing model has used in the past. And there is a growing need to integrate MEMS with traditional CMOS ICs as fabless companies scramble to figure out how to achieve “More than Moore.”
So to enable new MEMS, Coventor has a product line called MEMS+. It’s an appropriate name because it builds on its legacy in MEMS design, and adds new capabilities the world needs to truly push the MEMS envelope. The “+” is all about allowing MEMS to be combined with traditional CMOS ICs, as very well described in this article by Bryon Moyer. Coventor achieves this through tight links to IC design tools from Cadence and system level design tools from the MathWorks.
Coventor is also working hard to expand the ecosystem for MEMS, by working with foundries (who then work with an emerging class of fabless companies who are looking at MEMS as a big opportunity). The foundries, like TSMC and Global Foundries, like the idea of MEMS because they can be developed using their older capacity, maintaining that investment for them for a while longer. And Coventor has partnered up with Imec, the renowned research organization, which is one of the leaders in this whole area as well.
All signs are that MEMS – new or otherwise – is a growth market now that the consumer heavyweights like Apple Samsung, Nintendo and others have discovered their usefulness. The supply chain may be changing, too, as new, more nimble players get in the game to supply these devices, potentially unseating the traditional big names (who are so big the need only be referred to by their initials): HP, TI, ADI and ST.
