STMicroelectrics’s new advanced MEMS microphone lab will focus on all-level audio performance testing from components (microphone or acoustic components) to modules and systems, including smart phones, tablets, notebooks, TVs, and remote controls, ensuring superior recording and sound quality, shorter debugging period, and faster time to market for end applications.
“With the increasing demand for advanced microphone applications in the Greater China region, it is imperative for ST to strengthen its local technology and application support,” says Francois Guibert, Executive Vice President and President of STMicroelectrics’s Greater China and South Asia Region. “Establishing a new advanced testing lab facility in Taiwan will allow us to work even more closely with our key customers and partners in the region to optimize the quality of their products at all levels and develop innovative applications with excellent audio performance.”
“Good application design demands comprehensive testing, and ST always makes sure that our customers and partners have the most complete set of tools necessary to create those designs,” says Benedetto Vigna, Executive Vice President and General Manager of STMicroelectrics’s Analog, MEMS, and Sensors Group. “The investment in the new testing facility confirms our commitment to support the increasing demand for MEMS microphone applications and a step forward to further drive the MEMS microphone market growth.”
Taiwan is home to a number of top-tier global original design manufacturers (ODMs) and some of the world’s largest electronic manufacturing services ( EMS) companies. It is also the world’s second largest producer of IT products. With its comprehensive semiconductor-industry supply chain, from IC design and manufacturing to packaging and testing, accounting for almost 70% of the world’s contract IC chip output and a quarter of the global IC design market, Taiwan has been selected as the ideal location for STMicroelectrics’s advanced MEMS microphone facility.
Equipped with the APx525 Family Audio Analyzer from Audio Precision, STMicroelectrics’s new MEMS microphone lab in Taiwan complies with the ISO 3744/3745 industrial acoustic standard and environmental noise regulation, as well as Intel’s Speech and Voice Recognition Standard.
According to IHS’s latest report (click here), global MEMS microphone shipments rose by 37% year-on-year from 1.9 billion in 2012 to 2.6 billion units in 2013. By 2017, the shipments are forecast to reach 5.4 billion units.
www.st.com
