LYON, FRANCE: For the fourth year YOLE Développement has published the annual ranking of the MEMS foundries, and there have been major changes since the 2006 ranking.

The MEMS foundry business is quite complex with more than 23 companies proposing foundry services worldwide. And the field is not static, at YOLE Développement we are seeing new players enter regularly, for example TSMC who recently added a foundry service and will very likely enter our future rankings.

Yole analysts have identified that MEMS foundry players have been adopting two main business models:

• One group is focusing on a limited number of customers:
Several key semiconductor manufacturers like STMicroelectronics, Sony, Texas Instruments, Sanyo… are focusing on a few customers, becoming the absolute masters of the processes needed to serve their limited customer base allowing them superior cost positioning (STMicroelectronics has a very strong partnership with HP and another ink jet manufacturer, Sony is producing for Knowles Acoustics, Texas Instruments for Lexmark).

• Another group is following an open foundry business model:
They are working for a large number of customers, providing process development support and perfecting their ability to deliver flexible manufacturing services. For example, Silex has announced that they now have more than 70 customers.

It is important to include both types of MEMS foundry in this ranking because at the end they are proposing the same service. Just the business model is different.

The main results of the 2007 MEMS foundry business are the following:

• STMicroelectronics is still by far the number one MEMS foundry worldwide with a record $220M sales in 2007 (9 percent increase compared to 2006). Ink jet head business leads, but their microfluidic foundry services have become very popular and they continue targeting new applications.

• Two new companies have entered the MEMS foundry ranking, Texas Instruments and Sanyo. YOLE Développement, using its in-depth industry understanding, has discovered in 2007 that these two companies are providing MEMS foundry services for a limited number of customers. For example, Texas Instrument is manufacturing ink jet head structures for Lexmark.

• Silex is now the 4th MEMS foundry worldwide and also the number one open foundry, before IMT which was the open foundry leader in 2006. Silex has garnered very important new customers and now 50 percent of their revenue is coming from manufacturing. Its involvement in the manufacturing of devices for the mobile phone market (especially 3D silicon engineered interposer) and medical applications are fueling the growth.

• IMT is in 5th place, down from 2nd place in 2006. One of the key customers of IMT has stopped its business and so the growth has been limited in 2007.

• Micralyne is in 6th place worldwide with growth of the manufacturing activities.