ST tops MEMS market ranking
STMicroelectronics increased its sales by 10% to $1billion in 2012, pulling out a lead of more than $150million in revenue over its next closest rival, Robert Bosch.
According to Yole Développement's annual ranking of the top 30 MEMS companies reports, 2012 was also a good year for a number of other major inertial sensor suppliers, because of even bigger ramps in unit volume.
Yole calculates that the MEMS industry overall saw 10% growth in 2012 to become an $11billion business - in a year when the semiconductor industry saw a 2% decline.
"The fast growing market for sensors for smartphones is re-shuffling the ranks of MEMS suppliers." said Yole analyst Laurent Robin. "For the first time, suppliers of inertial sensors have surpassed the major makers of micro mirrors and inkjet heads that have long dominated the industry."
