To Serve, Rule, or Disappear: Business Models in MEMS

The development of high-tech products is a highly dynamic environment. Most companies are launched with a focus on product development, change to a service-oriented business model, and later switch market orientations in a bewildering dance around the potential customer base - the good ones become successful while the bad ones drown. The business shift between foundry and component supplier has been a hot topic for years. Offering foundry services is an open arms policy to potential customers where foundries don't interfere with the supplier's business. Some service suppliers try to run both business models in parallel. They work on their own products but simultaneously keep offering foundry services for all kinds of reasons: generating turnover, fulfilling long-term obligations, keeping in touch with the technology development, or co-designing for new products. Some companies stick to their original plans with determination. Knowles and Microflown, both pioneers in MEMS microphones, kept their vision alive and after over a decade of technology development, became successful in their chosen market segments.