SAN FRANCISCO—Market research firm iSuppli Corp. Tuesday (Feb. 2) raised its global microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone forecast, citing the emergence of active noise cancellation (ANC) technology through the introductions of Google Inc.'s Nexus One and Motorola Inc.'s Droid smartphones.
Because at least two microphones are required to implement ANC, iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.) said it now expects MEMS microphone shipments to grow to about 1.2 billion in 2013 from about 367.5 million in 2009. The firm had forecast last September that MEMS microphone shipments would rise to 1.1 billion in 2013.
Recent teardown analyses of the Nexus One and Droid uncovered two MEMS microphones from Knowles Electronics in each phone, according to iSuppli.
ANC can improve the quality of mobile calls in noisy environments by suppressing background noise, intermittent sounds and echoes, iSuppli said. The technology also can automatically adjust voice volume and equalization during calls to adapt to local noise interference, the company said. AND is also suitable for voice commands, a feature gaining popularity in mobile handsets, iSuppli said.
Click on image to enlarge. |
ANC headsets became popular in 2009, when Sony offered a headset providing up to 99 percent ambient noise cancellation, iSuppli said. Sony also offered the first earbud with noise cancelation at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, iSuppli said.
Nokia recently presented an ANC-equipped headset using 10 MEMS microphones, iSuppli said.
ISuppli is offering for sale its updated MEMS microphone forecast through the company's website.
