MEMS Sales To Reach $1.5 Billion; E-Commerce Booms.

The promise of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is finally becoming a reality in the consumer electronics market, a market that can take advantage of the depth and breadth of what this technology has to offer, according to Cahners In-Stat Group (Scottsdale, AZ). The market research firm forecasts that sales of MEMS for use in select consumer electronics segments will increase from about $200 million in 2000 to more than $1.5 billion in 2005.

"MEMS have been used in specialized markets, primarily automotive and medical, for a number of years, but are on the cusp of impacting the consumer electronics market in a big way." says Marlene Bourne, senior analyst for the firm's emerging semiconductor applications service. Until now, MEMS have been best known for their use in automotive airbags, blood pressure sensors and ink jet printers. However, accelerometers, image sensors, mirrors, relays and other types of MEMS devices have reached a critical turning point as they emerge from years of development and move into production.

MEMS can improve the functionality and performance of many products, and are now being integrated into a wide variety of consumer electronics products ranging from camcorders and game controllers to PDAs and DVDs. The most promising next generation MEMS devices are accelerometers in hard disk drives, microrelays in cellular phones and micromirrors in televisions.

The firm believes that, while MEMS' impact won't be immediate, the technology will indeed make a difference within a few years. By 2005, MEMS sales in the consumer electronics industry will jump nearly 10-fold over 2000's total.

In a separate report, the firm concludes that semiconductor manufacturers, and their suppliers, are rapidly boosting e-commerce capabilities and creating benefits throughout the supply chain. The value of e-commerce transactions in the semiconductor industry will jump from $12.7 billion in 2000 to $104.6 billion in 2003, according to the firm. Estimates forecast that e-commerce transactions will grow from 6.2 percent of total semiconductor sales in 2000 to just over 39 percent in 2003.

Although most industries will benefit from e-commerce, the gains will be particularly impressive in electronics markets that have historically faced rapid time-to-market demands. With e-commerce, engineers can reduce the time spent researching parts for new designs, buy parts online and eventually collaborate on product designs via the Internet. Initial implementations of e-commerce merely put buyers and sellers in contact with each other via the Internet. "Ultimately, e-commerce will enable multi-company integration of the entire supply chain, from product design to end product servicing," says Steve Cullen, director of the firm's semiconductor service.

For more information on either report, contact Courtney McEuen at [phone].

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