Impact of falling prices and the emergence of new applications... adoption of 300mm technology also expands

The global MEMS foundry outsourcing market is projected to reach $860.4 million in 2020, recording an average annual growth rate of 3.7% during the period from 2015 to 2020.

According to Sensors Online, this growth in the global MEMS foundry outsourcing market, which was worth $685.9 million in 2014, is mainly due to the growth of the fabless business model sector in the MEMS industry.

New MEMS fabless companies also promote foundry growth

Fabless MEMS companies such as Knowles Electronics and InvenSense, along with Goertek, recorded significant revenue growth during the period from 2011 to 2014.

The continuously declining average selling price and the emergence of new MEMS applications are expected to drive the growth of the global MEMS foundry outsourcing market. This is also a result of the impact of the upcoming adoption of 300mm technology in the MEMS field.

Companies newly entering the MEMS industry are expected to adopt the fabless business model, which is to fight against declining profit margins and toolsThis is to reduce overall economies of scale by eliminating capital investment required for design support and the establishment and maintenance of foundries. As a result, the growth of pure MEMS foundries is expected to be accelerated during the forecast period.

Unlike IC technology, MEMS cannot be manufactured using standardized manufacturing processes. For this reason, the growth of fabless MEMS design houses has been notable in recent years. In 2011, IDMs held the majority of the market share in the global MEMS foundry outsourcing market.

However, over the past four to five years, the center of gravity of the MEMS foundry outsourcing market has shifted toward pure business models, due to the emergence of major IC foundries such as TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), Silex, and Teledyne DASLA, as well as a decline in the average selling price of MEMS.