Defying macroeconomic challenges impacting the global semiconductor space last year, China's microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) market grew 19 percent in 2012 to reach $1.9 billion, as consumers snapped up mobile devices equipped with MEMS, particularly smartphones and media tablets.
MEMS purchasing in China will continue to grow this year to $2.3 billion this year on its way to $3.0 billion by 2016, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4 percent, according to a new IHS iSuppli China Research report from information and analytics provider IHS.
The boom in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices is driving demand for MEMS products in China. IHS believes that more and more manufacturers will join the MEMS business, which will improve the technology and manufacturing process of these devices and also help drive the expansion of the overall market.
The largest MEMS application market in China is the data processing market, including MEMS devices such as digital light processors (DLP) and inkjet printerheads. China's total MEMS consumption in the data processing market was $499 million in 2012, declining little from 2011.
The second-largest market for MEMS is wireless, due to contributions from mobile handsets, particularly smartphones. After the success of the Apple iPhone, China's local mobile handset vendors tried to narrow their performance and feature gap with the top handset players, in the process boosting demand for MEMS sensor components such as accelerometers and gyroscopes.
Not surprisingly, the fastest growth market will be wireless with 24 percent revenue CAGR from 2011 to 2016, followed by automotive and consumer.
Read More >> MEMS Continue to Impact China Technology, More Growth Expected
