LOS ANGELES, Apr 04, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- FRSU | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- If the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) test equipment market is to match the pace of overall MEMS market, it has to develop cost-effective, standardized solutions, reports Frost & Sullivan.
The consulting firm says this is especially pertinent in a market where expensive customized products vastly outnumber off-the-shelf products.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World MEMS Test Equipment Markets, finds that market earned revenues of $56.5 million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $120.2 million in 2014
The analysis showed that current test equipment is priced as high as $1 million, which can deter most MEMS device manufacturers from purchasing testing equipment. Customized solutions require vendors to conduct research each time they receive an order driving up the costs. Once standard solutions become more prevalent, costs will likely drop
The report noted that most test equipment performs only either electrical testing or mechanical testing, and this lack of versatility increases the cost of individual testing. Technological advancements of MEMS devices will have a proportional impact on the growth of the low-cost testing market.
"The cost of testing mechanical and electrical elements in a system is highly expensive - in today's market, if it costs around 50 cents to manufacture a chip, it costs almost 40 cents to test it," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Sujan Sami. "This has led to the promotion of low-cost test equipment, which is driving the market by compelling test vendors to conduct more intensive research in this area." The report said that currently the high costs of MEMS testing discourage most manufacturers from employing it unless the testing is essential. Most end users do not understand the importance of MEMS testing and have low awareness of wafer-level technology or MEMS device testing.
"Most semiconductor industry engineers have a mechanical background or an electrical background, which is sufficient to test any type of semiconductor product," said Sami. "However, since MEMS consist of both electrical and mechanical components, the testing become complex and not many have the technical training required to perform the tests."
Frost & Sullivan added that, to overcome this issue of customers' ignorance, test vendors have begun to focus on educating end users on the importance of MEMS testing as well as the benefits they are likely to obtain. Once customers recognize the true value of testing, the adoption rates are expected to increase significantly.
World MEMS Test Equipment Markets is part of the Test & Measurement Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: World Stress/Strain Measurement Equipment Markets, World General Purpose Test and Measurement Equipment Market, World Signal Generators and Arbitrary Waveform Generator Market and World Oscilloscopes Markets.
