ANN ARBOR – The first half of 2004 is looking a lot like the last half of 2003 for the MEMS (small tech) industry, only better. If trends continue, 2004 will be a banner year, or in the very least, an interesting successor to 2003.
Although 2003 didnt start off that great, it ended quite well. Year-to-year revenues were up 35.7 percent in 2003 from 2002, with much of that occurring in the last half of 2003. In fact, there was a discernable surge in customer activity in the fourth quarter, which has continued through the first half of 2004.
Adding to that momentum is the fact that new startups outpaced shutdowns at a ratio of more than 12 to 1. It should be noted that while some of these new companies have been in stealth mode and only recently chose to make their debut (or publicly reveal their R&D efforts) over the past 12 months, nearly half were indeed newly established.
Add a dramatic increase in spending by venture capitalists and all signs point to a strong 2004. VC funding of MEMS companies in the first half of 2004 has already exceeded all of 2003 by 33 percent. In addition, murmurs of acquisitions have become louder among both large semiconductor companies and startups alike.
In this respect, the next 18 to 24 months could be very interesting.
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