STMicroelectronics intends to enter the automotive and industrial markets

Compared to smartphone chip makers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek, the name STMicroelectronics (ST) does not seem to be known to many people; but in fact, many consumer electronics products, including smartphones. Both contain components from STMicroelectronics. For example, the OIS optical image stabilization sensor used by Huawei Mate 9 is a work of ST. However, under new market opportunities, ST intends to move from consumer electronics to the automotive and industrial markets.

China's smart phone sensor giants On October 17, STMicroelectronics held a media communication meeting in Beijing, announcing that its MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) will no longer focus solely on the consumer electronics business, but will also target the automotive and industrial markets. . STMicroelectronics said that the reason for this transformation is because of the development trend of automotive intelligence and industrial intelligence, and consumer electronics demand for MEMS has slowed down. In fact, ST has a deep foundation in the consumer electronics arena, especially the MEMS sensor business. STMicroelectronics not only has a relatively complete MEMS sensor manufacturing technology and production capacity, but also has the internal integration capabilities of various sensors and external integration functions. In the past decade, the demand for sensors for consumer electronics such as smartphones has increased significantly. STMicroelectronics' MEMS sensor technology is also widely accepted.

According to Lei Feng.com, in addition to the above-mentioned Huawei Mate 9 mobile phones, Nintendo's Switch mainframe, Decathlon custom watches and other hardware have built-in STMicroelectronics MEMS sensors; in fact, including Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Meizu Almost all of China's mainstream smartphone manufacturers are customers of STMicroelectronics MEMS sensors. STMicroelectronics' MEMS sensors also cover important product types such as optical image stabilization gyroscopes, accelerometers & gyroscopes, ultra-low-power accelerometers, high-precision pressure sensors, acceleration & magnetometer inertial measurement units; According to data from France Semiconductor, its share of the MEMS sensor market will reach 60% to 65% by the end of 2017.

From consumer electronics to automotive and industrial consumer electronics, it is a gentle township of STMicroelectronics MEMS sensors, but it is not a land of Chang'an; because the industry's variables are too large, sensor technology needs to be updated even in half a year. Especially in recent years, with the great concept of artificial intelligence technology and the hot driving technology, STMicroelectronics has seen opportunities in new fields such as automobiles and industries. STMicroelectronics has introduced the AIS2DW12 ultra-low-power 3-axis smart accelerometer in a 2 x 2 x 0.7 mm package; this is an automotive grade product that can be used for automotive keyless entry. In fact, according to the first half of 2017 market report released by IHS, STMicroelectronics is the largest automotive MEMS manufacturer for non-safety applications, including inertial navigation and T-Box. However, according to Lei Feng.com, the accuracy of MEMS sensors is a major challenge for semiconductor manufacturers in the automotive and industrial sectors. Sensor accuracy parameters include noise, stability and error; for this reason, ST has made many improvements in sensor design and test calibration, and its test calibration standards have been upgraded from consumer to industrial and strategic, time-consuming Increase from a few seconds to weeks. Among them, in order to meet the needs of intelligent driving and even automatic driving of MEMS sensors, STMicroelectronics also promotes the integration of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and sensor data, as well as the integration of dead reckoning and sensor data; The use of magnetic dual-axis and electrostatic resonance technology, and a major breakthrough in MEMS microphone vehicle equipment.

As for the smart industry, ST's goal is to promote the popularity of the Internet of Things in the industrial sector through MEMS. This is a higher demand for MEMS sensors, especially in terms of intelligence and perception. At present, STMicroelectronics' MEMS sensors for the smart industry include laser range finder, seismic detector, MEMS inclinometer, various smart industrial motion sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc.), various environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, pressure). Such as sensors) and various types of equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance sensors. As the automotive, industrial and other fields are also evolving in the direction of intelligence, the application of MEMS sensors in these fields is undoubtedly more and more; this poses technical challenges and market opportunities for semiconductor manufacturers. Under these conditions, STMicroelectronics announced the transformation of the MEMS sensor business, which is undoubtedly a good choice; as long as the market will pay, it will take time to prove.