According to IHS iSuppli, Apple has been ranked as the second largest purchaser of micro electromechanical system (MEMS) sensors for use in Apple iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.
Jeremie Bouchaud, the chief analyst for MEMS, noted that there were increased sales of iPhones and iPads in 2010 because the user interfaces in all these devices was supported by MEMS sensors such as gyroscopes, microphones and accelerometers.
Some of the MEMS sensors bought by Apple were the 3-axis gyroscope used in iPhone and iPod; accelerometers for iPhone, iPad and iPod nano; bulk acoustic wave (BAW) duplexers for use in iPhone and iPad 3G. MEMS microphones were provided by Analog Devices, ACC and Knowles Electronics for use in iPod (5th generation) and iPhone 4. STMicroelectronics and TriQuint Semiconductor supplied the MEMS sensors to Apple.
According to his, Samsung has successfully regained the top position in the purchase of MEMS sensors for mobile phones and tablets. Samsung purchased MEMS sensors such as BAW filters, accelerometers and gyroscopes. Avago Technologies, STMicroelectronics, Bosch Sensortec and Knowles were some of the suppliers of MEMS devices for Samsung.
IHS reported that Nintendo’s MEMS purchase figures dropped to 123 million dollars in 2010. Therefore, it slipped to the third position from the first position. Bouchaud attributed this decline to oversupply of Wii video game controllers. Nintendo purchased single, dual and 3-axis gyroscopes for Wii Motion Plus remote controller and 3DS handheld device with three dimensional gaming capabilities. STMicroelectronics, Invensense, Epson Toyocom and Bosch Sensortec were the main suppliers for Nintendo.
Source: http://www.isuppli.com/