Contributed by Richard Dixon, Senior Analyst MEMS, iSuppli
Introduction
Back in February 2009 the iSuppli MEMS and sensor team reported on trends in the automotive magnetic sensor market, and has since completed a comprehensive report on the whole market for silicon magnetic sensor elements and ICs – predominantly Hall, asymmetric magnetoresistive (AMR) and giant magnetoresistive (GMR) based devices. This article provides the cliff notes of our special report and briefly compares different technologies and highlights just some of the many applications for this very pervasive sensor.
Where do these sensors play? The fields are broad and include:
- High-cost applications like industrial motors that require accurate knowledge of rotor position to control loads
- Mid-priced automotive sensor ICs that measure rotation speed angle, and position
- Low-cost consumer and mobile phone products
Read More »
February 17, 2010 – 6:04 pm
Whether it’s a new netbook, iPad, or smartphone that has your eye, almost everyone seems to crave sort of mobile information and communication device right now. Here’s just a couple of MEMS-related announcements from Mobile World Congress 2010, going on right now in Barcelona: Read More »
February 2, 2010 – 4:15 pm
Contributed by Jérémie Bouchaud, Director & Principal Analyst, MEMS, iSuppli
The year 2009 started badly for MEMS, just like for the rest of the economy. Unlike other MEMS analysts who seem to believe that MEMS is immune to the economic crisis and that revenue stayed exactly flat in 2008 and 2009, the latest revenue reported to iSuppli from MEMS manufacturers show that shipments were still up 10% from 2008 even though revenue was down 8.6%. This followed a similar revenue drop of 4.8% in 2008.
The economic crisis resulted in the closing of a number of fabs, including Colibrys, which closed its Texas-based 6-inch fab, leaving the company with its original 4-inch fab in Switzerland. Other foundries suffered, too, and most saw revenues declining by 20%-30% compared to 2008, with staff cuts following in proportion. iSuppli also noticed that a number of companies have extensively made use of unpaid leaves, especially in the first half of the year. Read More »
