USound, a provider of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) loudspeakers for hearables and wearables, announced that it “is on a rapid path to replacing balanced armature microspeakers with MEMS speakers in most portable consumer electronics by 2025.”
The market for MEMS loudspeakers is set to increase from 2023, whereas balanced armature will significantly decrease from 2024 onwards, according to USound. By 2025 it is estimated that “MEMS speakers will be dominating 50% of the market share within True Wireless Stereo (TWS) systems.”
This rapid growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for smaller and more powerful loudspeakers and the trends of miniaturization and concealed technology in TWS, OTC hearing aids, and wearables such as audio and AR/VR glasses, USound said.
Balanced armature and electrodynamic speakers are already reaching their limits in terms of how small they can be and how to meet market requirements, the company said in its announcement. Additionally, MEMS speakers can be processed in fully automated production lines, unlike balanced armature, which requires manual assembly. Compared to voice coil microspeakers, USound MEMS loudspeakers “take up 50% less space, use 80% less energy and boast a greater frequency range.” Due to their reduced size, MEMS speakers “consume less PCB space enabling the possibility of adding sensors for more technical features such as pulse meter, accelerometer, UHF sensors, microphones for ANC / voice pickup/beamforming, and a larger battery for increased play-time of hearables such as true wireless earbuds.”
USound MEMS speakers “became the must-have speaker technology for manufacturing MRI-compatible headphones and OTC hearing aids thanks to the lack of ferromagnetics, no vibration, and SPL per weight and size,” the company said.
“We are extremely proud of the achievements of our technology. Our MEMS speakers are becoming increasingly popular due to their performance. We are dedicated to supporting the miniaturization move forward and empowering consumer electronics manufacturers to create smarter and better performing devices,” said Ferruccio Bottoni, CEO at USound.
USound has been collaborating with Chinese companies such as Tiancheng Network Technology Co, Ltd on TWS blueprints and prototypes and Upstar on OTC hearing aids for faster technology adoption.
About USound
USound is an audio company offering high-performance silicon speakers and high-quality sound solutions based on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology, safeguarded by over 300 filed patents. With its offices in Graz, Vienna, San Francisco, and Shenzhen, USound serves international customers to design smart audio applications with MEMS speakers. Learn more on www.usound.com.
Source: USound
Images: USound
