微機電系統(MEMS)技術正穩定朝手機、數位相機等消費性電子產品應用領域發展，而接下來可能很快跨足所謂的「生活態度(lifestyle」產品領域。
「幾乎所有的產品演進都與MEMS有關。」MEMS供應商Bosch Sensortec的行銷總監Leopold Beer表示。目前MEMS麥克風、加速度計以及壓力感測器等，已經進駐手機產品做為介面技術，且可望越來越普及。
來自ADI的感測器專家Christoph Wagner則以Wii遊戲機的成功為例，預測MEMS技術將繼續攻佔包括遊戲機在內的消費性電子市場，以及醫療設備領域。雖然各類特定應用的設計與開發並不容易，但Wagner也表示，由於MEMS元件價格持續下跌，最終仍可望拓展其在消費性電子領域的版圖。
而在一場Electronica 2008展惠期間舉辦的MEMS技術座談會上，與會專家一致同意，要在提升MEMS性能的同時又降低成本，可透過較大尺寸晶圓或是委外代工生產來達成。
MEMS其他的潛在應用領域包括數位電視以及機上盒的遙控器；由於數位電視頻道越來越多，遙控器功能對消費者來說也越變越複雜。Freescale的Claire Jackoski預測，MEMS感測器如陀螺儀、加速度計，將可帶來使用更簡便的遙控器，只要搖晃手中的遙控器就可操作電視機或機上盒。
ST的Fabio Pasolini也同意，MEMS感測器將會在無按鍵遙控器等「指向裝置(pointing devices)」領域有更多應用；他也補充，MEMS將越來越常出現在各種人們日常生活中使用的東西裡。
而根據市場研究機構iSuppli分析師Jeremie Bouchard的預測，在全球景氣低迷的市場壓力下，MEMS製造商必須降低產品的成本，才能迎合更大的消費者族群；他表示，目前例如兩軸陀螺儀等MEMS元件的價格對消費性應用來說太高。MEMS業者則表示，陀螺儀得等到他們達到量產，價格才能像加速度計那樣下滑。
(參考原文：MEMS developers target 'lifestyle products'，by George Leopold)
MUNICH, Germany — MEMS technology that is steadily making its way into cellphones, digital cameras and other consumer devices could soon make the leap to so-called "lifestyle products" where MEMS chips could provide easier-to-use interfaces.
"Anything that moves is a target for MEMS," claimed Leopold Beer, director of marketing for Bosch Sensortec (Reutlingen, German).
While MEMs devices like microphones, accelerometers and pressure sensors have been making their way into cellphones for applications like navigation, proponents of the technology predict it will become more pervasive as an interface.
Citing the success of the Wii game console, Christoph Wagner, a sensor application specialist with Analog Devices GmbH, predicted MEMs technology will make inroads into consumer markets like gaming and medical equipment.
Specific applications remain hard to define and challenging to develop, Wagner added, but the steady drop in unit prices for MEMS devices means they could eventually end up in a wider array of consumer products. Cutting the cost of producing MEMS devices while increasing performance could be accomplished by moving to larger wafer sizes and even outsourcing production, experts on a MEMS panel at the Electronica 2008 exhibition here agreed.
Other potential consumer markets for MEMS include digital TV and the set-top boxes that will control many receivers. As the amount of digital TV programming handled by set-tops grows, remote controls have become far more complex for consumers to use. Claire Jackoski of Freescale Semiconductor predicted that MEMS-based sensors like gyroscopes and accelerometers would allow consumers to simply wave a remote control to operate a digital TV set-top.
Fabio Pasolini of STMicroelectronics agreed that MEMS sensors will increasingly be used in "pointing devices" like button-less remote controls, adding that the technology will increasingly be applied "to things we use in our lives."
While MEMS applications appear to be expanding as the technology grows cheaper, the estimated $7 billion global market for MEMS is expected to cool if, as expected, consumer spending slows. An industry group also projected this week that the MEMS market could contract in 2009.
These market pressures will force MEMS manufacturers to reduce the cost of new MEMS-based systems before they are embraced by most consumers, industry experts said. Jeremie Bouchard, a MEMS industry analyst with iSuppli Deutschland, noted that emerging MEMS devices like two-axis gyroscopes currently remain too costly for consumer applications. Industry executives here countered that the unit price of gyroscopes will eventually decline just as accelerometer prices did once they reached volume production.
