For the market prospect of smart wearable devices, nobody shows doubt. After Google Glass, a lot of manufacturers follow the trend, having introduced various products, such as iWatch, Paparazzi, SmartWatch and Pebble. In addition, smart medical and sport equipments to timely monitor body status also gains traction. Smart wearable devices break out in various fields.
It is a fact that
sensor plays a critical role in smart wearable devices. Driven by the takeoff of smart portable devices, related electronic component will see explosive growth, especially the rising 9-axis MEMS sensor which integrates 3-axis acceleration sensor, angular velocity sensor and geomagnetic sensor. The integration solution enables largely reducing power consumption and contributes to the multi-functional and machine-to-man smart application in limited design space.
Currently, 9-axis MEMS market is very busy, attracting a sheer number of manufacturers, including STMicroelectronics, Analog Devices, Freescale, Bosch Sensortec and InvenSense.
12 years earlier,
STMicroelectronics released built-in 9-axis MEMS sensor STM32 F3 to promote the application of 9-axis MEMS sensor. Google Glass recently adds fuel to encouragement to increase investment. Li Jiongyi, senior technical marketing engineer at STMicroelectronics said “The company is working with Google about next-generation operating system version. It is expected that Google’s next generation of operating system for mobile devices will contributes to the rapid expansion of 9-axis MEMS single chip in the mobile device market.”
According to
MEMS performance in 2012 by IHS, in addition to STMicroelectronics with annual growth rate at 23%, another winner is Bosch with annual growth rate reaching 8%. In the field of promising 9-axis MEMS sensor, Bosch ramps up pace. At present, Bosch Sensortec has become the only supplier of accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure gauge and magnetometer, laying firm foundation to 9-axis MEMS.
Worth noting, InvenSense, the fastest growing MEMS manufacturer who saw revenue rising by 32%, shows advantage as well. It is reported the 9-axis MEMS single chip used in the first generation of Google Glass comes from InvenSense. After launching 6-axis MEMS sensor, InvenSense will continue to develop low-cost, small-size and high-performance 9-axis MEMS products by cooperating with third party.
Tags：
9-axis MEMS sensor, smart wearable devices