Munich – Markets for microsystems will double over the next five years from $12 billion in 2004 to $25 billion in 2009, a CAGR of 16%, according to a market report by NEXUS.
 
MST/MEMS sensors and actuators are predicted to continue to consolidate their position in established IT peripheral markets for read/write heads and inkjet heads, in addition to creating new opportunities for microphones, memories, micro energy sources and chip coolers.
 
The automotive sector remains a major application field with several high-volume safety products including air bags and tire pressure monitoring systems.
 
Helping propel the market is the meteoric rise of the consumer electronics segment, forecast to almost quadruple its share from 6% of the market in 2004 to 22% in 2009 (a CAGR of 50%).
 
“The growth of consumer electronics for MST is breathtaking,” said Dr Henning Wicht, managing director of WTC. “In this segment we see rear and front projection TVs for home theater, as well as HDDs serving the increasing storage requirements of digital equipment such as DVD recorders, digital cameras and camcorders, and portable MP3 players. A big driver is the mobile phone, which already features motion sensors and is amenable to a battery of additional sensors and functions like liquid lenses for camera zoom, fingerprint sensors, microfuel cell power sources, gas sensors and weather barometers.”
 
Of the 26 products analyzed in the report, 14 will have market volumes over $100 million, and completely new products such as microfuel cells, fingerprint sensors and liquid lenses will worth a combined $250 million in five years.
 
The study, NEXUS Market Analysis III, was coordinated by WTC (Wicht Technologie Consulting) on behalf of NEXUS (The Network of Excellence in Multifunctional Microsystems).