The MEMS industry is stronger in the first anniver

One year after the earthquake in Japan: the MEMS industry is stronger

one year after the earthquake, the supply chain has become richer and more diversified. According to the theory of evolution, survival of the fittest is sometimes a cruel process of natural selection, and the survivors are stronger and more adaptable organisms. For the MEMS market, the Japanese earthquake is equivalent to an evolutionary event, and the post disaster supply chain has become richer, more diversified, and more adaptable to growth

most MEMS businesses in Japan have basically not been damaged by this disaster. At the time of the earthquake on March 11 last year, the Japanese MEMS business accounted for about 33% of the global MEMS sensor market revenue

five MEMS related factories in northeastern Japan have been directly affected: Freescale Semiconductor's accelerometer factory in Sendai; Canon's me regenerative medicine products in Fukushima are mainly composed of stem cells, tissue-engineered tissues and organs with biomaterials as scaffolds, and transplantable biological tissues and organs, which constitute the MS print head factory; DLP wafer factory of Texas Instruments in MIPO; Seiko Epson's print head, gyroscope and microphone factory in Jiutian; MEMS wafer testing facility of Micronics Japan Corp

these suppliers serve the automotive industry and the consumer electronics market

microphone one year later

before the earthquake, the supply of this key MEMS device was heavily dependent on a few Japanese enterprises

one example is Knowles acoustics, a manufacturer of miniature microphones and speakers

Knowles has been in a leading position in the MEMS microphone Market for many years, but the MEMS devices used in its products come from only one supplier. This is very dangerous, and it relies on only one factory in Japan. Last year, Knowles' microphone shipments, including MEMS, fell sharply by 41%. Its OEM partner is Sony Kyushu, which is responsible for producing MEMS microphone wafers for it

fortunately, the factory is located on Kyushu Island in southern Japan, far away from the epicenter of last year's major earthquake. At that time, other MEMS manufacturers were unable to provide a very large number of MEMS microphones

according to IHS iSuppli, in view of the impact of this crisis, Knowles is considering diversifying its MEMS manufacturing base and adding an additional supply channel. With two supply sources, more OEM manufacturers will be willing to adopt Knowles' technology in their products

made in Japan: 97% of the world's digital compasses are produced

before and after the earthquake, enterprises in Japan produced 97% of the world's electronic compasses. At present, this kind of device is rapidly used in and tablet computers

Figure 1 shows the location of compass factory where the purity of aluminum in various brands of copper aluminum transition terminals used in the current market of major MEMS and digital products in Japan can only reach 99.5% (Note: generally, the purity of electrical aluminum is above 99.7%)

in 2011, the shipment value of such devices was much higher than US $400million, most of which came from four Japanese Enterprises: AKM, Yamaha, Aichi steel and Alps. If any of the above companies' factories are located in the hardest hit areas in northeastern Japan, it is impossible to achieve the above-mentioned high output value

three of the four factories are located in Kyushu Island, the southernmost part of Japan, including AKM. AKM is the largest electronic compass supplier, accounting for 70% of the market share last year. The overall strategy of AKM is to reduce risks by using multiple suppliers

the Japanese automotive industry suffered a double blow

Japanese enterprises accounted for a large share of the global automotive MEMS sensor market, accounting for about 24% in 2011. The largest suppliers in this field are Denso and Panasonic

denso produces airbag accelerometers and pressure sensors for engine management. Panasonic manufactures gyroscopes for vehicle stability and GPS navigation

smaller manufacturers include Murata production Institute, which provides gyroscopes for GPS navigation systems; Kyocera, which produces tire pressure sensors; Mitsubishi Electric sells airbag accelerometers. Other small manufacturers include Fuji Electric, which provides manifold pressure sensors; Nicera, which produces thermoelectric components, is used to detect internal temperature

Toyota, Honda and Nissan have done a good job in damage control, found new sources of goods, and reduced production interruptions caused by earthquakes, power outages and other related events. Unfortunately, Japanese automobile OEMs have also been hit by the floods in Thailand in 2011

these Japanese car factory suppliers have gone through a difficult period. Denso is the main supplier of accelerometers and pressure sensors for Honda and Toyota. The water content in 2011 shall not exceed 0.3%; It lost $850million in the second quarter, but it managed to turn it around completely in the third quarter. Mic ronas was also implicated in the exclusive supply of Hall sensors to Denso