MEMS Industry Group (MIG)’s MEMS Executive Congress US-held November 7-8, 2013 in Napa, CA-showed why the MEMS industry is outpacing the semiconductor industry, in both growth and innovation. With a 10 percent increase in attendance over 2012 and market analysts such as IHS Inc.’s Jérémie Bouchaud predicting that the MEMS industry will grow twice as fast as the semiconductor industry-MEMS Executive Congress highlighted innovation through presentations, panels and awards.
From market analysts such as Yole Développement’s Laurent Robin, who described a wider variety of MEMS in the smartphone of 2018, to HTC America’s Gary Yao, who predicted that watches, glasses and wearable patches will join smartphones in our connected world of 2020, event speakers cited the critical role of consumer and mobile markets in the growth of MEMS.
Donald Jones, VP, Global Strategy & Market Development, Qualcomm Life, explained the blurring lines between consumer applications and wireless healthcare devices, many of which leverage smartphone technology to empower patients and medical professionals. “We are beginning to see the disappearance of the medical device. The machine itself will be gone.”