20-year-old Bosch Sensortec eyes AI inside MEMS sensors

Bosch Sensortec, which shipped more than 1 billion MEMS sensors in 2024, is now a 20-year-old outfit with an ambitious goal of making MEMS sensing as essential to consumer electronics as the microprocessor.

Market research firm Yole Group has acknowledged Bosch Sensortec as the global market leader in MEMS sensors for the fourth consecutive year. “Bosch Sensortec has been one of the main driving forces in the MEMS industry,” said Jean-Christophe Eloy, president and founder of Yole Group. “The company has evolved from a startup with a strong technical vision into a global leader in intelligent sensing for consumer electronics.”

The timing of Bosch Sensortec’s inception in 2005 was impeccable; the smartphone revolution would arrive a couple of years later, transforming the MEMS sensor world by bringing sensor technology into real-world impact. “As smartphones began to change the world, we brought deep technical expertise,” said Stefan Finkbeiner, CEO of Bosch Sensortec.

He recalls the early days when a handful of engineers would all fit in a single meeting room. “I remember us playing early mobile phone games in that room just to understand how a gyroscope might enhance the user experience.” Over the years, miniaturization became the key driving force by combining MEMS and ASIC layers through advanced packaging technologies such as through-silicon vias and buried bonding.

It reduced the sensor footprint and enabled AI computation directly on the chip. “Twenty years ago, our first MEMS accelerometer was 15 times larger in package volume than today’s ultra-compact sensors,” Finkbeiner said. “Today, you can hardly see these sensors; they’re only slightly bigger than a grain of sand.”

Figure 1 Miniaturization transformed MEMS sensors in the past two decades. Source: Bosch Sensortec

First and foremost, this miniaturization opened the door to new applications in space-constrained environments, spanning from true wireless stereo earbuds and wearables to smart home devices. Moreover, instead of redesigning hardware, design engineers can update software to adapt functionality, speeding up time-to-market and enabling broader use cases.

MEMS sensors in the AI era

The next tectonic shift in the MEMS sensor space is related to artificial intelligence (AI). Bosch Sensortec describes itself as a supplier of intelligent sensing systems that integrate MEMS technology, embedded software and edge AI.

Consumer electronics products—from smartphones and wearables to smart homes and hearables—are connected devices that require more than raw data. They demand context and energy-efficient intelligence. Here, AI-powered sensors that process data directly on the sensor itself ensure privacy, extend battery life, and enable new features like activity recognition, gesture control, and indoor navigation.

Figure 2 The AI-powered sensors transform raw data into actionable signals for smartphones, wearables, hearables, and smart homes. Source: Bosch Sensortec

Bosch Sensortec claims that 90% of its products will feature on-sensor intelligence by 2027. Furthermore, its long-term goal is to deliver over 10 billion intelligent sensors in total by 2030. “From silicon to system, we’re building sensor solutions that shape tomorrow’s connected, sustainable technologies,” Finkbeiner said.

He concludes by saying that while the company’s startup phase may be over, the spirit of experimentation remains. That’s a vital premise for AI‑driven sensor systems in a connected world.

Related Content

The post 20-year-old Bosch Sensortec eyes AI inside MEMS sensors appeared first on EDN.