News Article
Yole’s MEMS Foundry Ranking For 2007
Healthy growth and new MEMS foundries identified
For the 4th year YOLE Développement has published the annual ranking of the MEMS foundries, and there have been major changes since the 2006 ranking!
The MEMS foundry business is quite complex with more than 23 companies proposing foundry services worldwide. And the field is not static; YOLE Développement sees new players enter regularly, for example TSMC who recently added a foundry service and will very likely enter our future rankings. Yole analysts have identified that MEMS foundry players have been adopting two main business models:
One group is focusing on a limited number of customers:
Several key semiconductor manufacturers like STMicroelectronics, Sony, Texas Instruments, Sanyo, to name but a few, are focusing on a few customers, becoming the absolute masters of the processes needed to serve their limited customer base allowing them superior cost positioning (STMicroelectronics has a very strong partnership with HP and another ink jet manufacturer, Sony is producing for Knowles Acoustics, Texas Instruments for Lexmark, etc.).
Another group is following an open foundry business model:
They are working for a large number of customers, providing process development support and perfecting their ability to deliver flexible manufacturing services. For example: Silex has announced that they now have more than 70 customers.
It is important to include both types of MEMS foundry in this ranking because ultimately they are proposing the same service. Just the business model is different.
The main results of the 2007 MEMS foundry business are the following:
• STMicroelectronics is still by far the number one MEMS foundry worldwide with a record $220M sales in 2007 (9% increase compared to 2006). Ink jet head business leads, but their microfluidic foundry services have become very popular and they continue targeting new applications.
• Two new companies have entered the MEMS foundry ranking, Texas Instruments and Sanyo. YOLE Développement, using its in-depth industry understanding, has discovered in 2007 that these 2 companies are providing MEMS foundry services for a limited number of customers. For example, Texas Instruments is manufacturing ink jet head structures for Lexmark.
• Silex is now the 4th MEMS foundry worldwide and also the number one open foundry, before IMT which was the open foundry leader in 2006. Silex has garnered very important new customers and now 50% of their revenue is coming from manufacturing. Its involvement in the manufacturing of devices for the mobile phone market (especially 3D silicon engineered interposer) and medical applications are fuelling the growth.
• IMT is in 5th place, down from 2nd place in 2006. One of the key customers of IMT has stopped its business and so the growth has been limited in 2007.
• Micralyne is in 6th place worldwide with growth of the manufacturing activities.
• The 2007 ranking is different compared to 2006 due to the entrance of new players like Texas Instruments and Sanyo. These 2 companies have been involved in MEMS foundry business for several years but their activities have only become really visible last year.
For Mathieu Potin, MEMS analyst at Yole Developpement, “It is very interesting to look at the growth rate of the different companies (see the table): Silex has had the strongest growth with more than 100% (in dollar value, 78% in Swedish currency value), followed by X-Fab and Tronic's Microsystems. All these players are fuelling their growth with strong volume production and increasing demand from both existing customers and new customers.”
Only Memscap is losing ground with custom production decreasing by 11% compared to 2006. Asia Pacific Microsystems is also flat in 2007 compared to 2006: the company has been involved in its merger with ChipSense and its integration within the UMC/Unimicron group and sales have been stable.
For Jean Christophe Eloy, CEO at Yole Developpement, “2007 was another very good year for MEMS foundries: strong and healthy growth for most of the players, but in 2008, the road will certainly be bumpier”. Several MEMS foundries will suffer from a decrease of key customer sales, like Sony with the sales decrease of Knowles Acoustics due to limited growth of Knowles Acoustics sales and entrance of a second source for the microphone, IMT with the end of the production for one of its' major customers, “but we think that in general the MEMS foundry business will have a growth rate of 25% to 30% in 2008, which is not bad…”
The MEMS foundry business is quite complex with more than 23 companies proposing foundry services worldwide. And the field is not static; YOLE Développement sees new players enter regularly, for example TSMC who recently added a foundry service and will very likely enter our future rankings. Yole analysts have identified that MEMS foundry players have been adopting two main business models:
One group is focusing on a limited number of customers:
Several key semiconductor manufacturers like STMicroelectronics, Sony, Texas Instruments, Sanyo, to name but a few, are focusing on a few customers, becoming the absolute masters of the processes needed to serve their limited customer base allowing them superior cost positioning (STMicroelectronics has a very strong partnership with HP and another ink jet manufacturer, Sony is producing for Knowles Acoustics, Texas Instruments for Lexmark, etc.).
Another group is following an open foundry business model:
They are working for a large number of customers, providing process development support and perfecting their ability to deliver flexible manufacturing services. For example: Silex has announced that they now have more than 70 customers.
It is important to include both types of MEMS foundry in this ranking because ultimately they are proposing the same service. Just the business model is different.
The main results of the 2007 MEMS foundry business are the following:
• STMicroelectronics is still by far the number one MEMS foundry worldwide with a record $220M sales in 2007 (9% increase compared to 2006). Ink jet head business leads, but their microfluidic foundry services have become very popular and they continue targeting new applications.
• Two new companies have entered the MEMS foundry ranking, Texas Instruments and Sanyo. YOLE Développement, using its in-depth industry understanding, has discovered in 2007 that these 2 companies are providing MEMS foundry services for a limited number of customers. For example, Texas Instruments is manufacturing ink jet head structures for Lexmark.
• Silex is now the 4th MEMS foundry worldwide and also the number one open foundry, before IMT which was the open foundry leader in 2006. Silex has garnered very important new customers and now 50% of their revenue is coming from manufacturing. Its involvement in the manufacturing of devices for the mobile phone market (especially 3D silicon engineered interposer) and medical applications are fuelling the growth.
• IMT is in 5th place, down from 2nd place in 2006. One of the key customers of IMT has stopped its business and so the growth has been limited in 2007.
• Micralyne is in 6th place worldwide with growth of the manufacturing activities.
• The 2007 ranking is different compared to 2006 due to the entrance of new players like Texas Instruments and Sanyo. These 2 companies have been involved in MEMS foundry business for several years but their activities have only become really visible last year.
For Mathieu Potin, MEMS analyst at Yole Developpement, “It is very interesting to look at the growth rate of the different companies (see the table): Silex has had the strongest growth with more than 100% (in dollar value, 78% in Swedish currency value), followed by X-Fab and Tronic's Microsystems. All these players are fuelling their growth with strong volume production and increasing demand from both existing customers and new customers.”
Only Memscap is losing ground with custom production decreasing by 11% compared to 2006. Asia Pacific Microsystems is also flat in 2007 compared to 2006: the company has been involved in its merger with ChipSense and its integration within the UMC/Unimicron group and sales have been stable.
For Jean Christophe Eloy, CEO at Yole Developpement, “2007 was another very good year for MEMS foundries: strong and healthy growth for most of the players, but in 2008, the road will certainly be bumpier”. Several MEMS foundries will suffer from a decrease of key customer sales, like Sony with the sales decrease of Knowles Acoustics due to limited growth of Knowles Acoustics sales and entrance of a second source for the microphone, IMT with the end of the production for one of its' major customers, “but we think that in general the MEMS foundry business will have a growth rate of 25% to 30% in 2008, which is not bad…”
