Akustica’s AKU230 digital microphone is Bosch-built

PITTSBURGH, USA: Akustica Inc., inventors of the first single-chip digital micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone, announced a new single-chip digital MEMS microphone for high-quality voice applications in laptops, tablets and netbook PCs.

The new AKU230—which represents Akustica’s 4th-generation MEMS microphone—is the company’s first product that leverages the extensive MEMS fabrication capabilities and global supply chain of Bosch, which acquired Akustica in 2009. Akustica chose to move production of their newest complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) MEMS microphone to the Bosch foundry in Reutlingen, Germany because of Bosch’s unparalleled MEMS manufacturing experience and the rigorous standards of quality that have allowed Bosch to ship more than 1.6 billion MEMS sensors worldwide.

“Bosch ships more than 200 million MEMS sensors annually,” said Dr. Stefan Finkbeiner, CEO and general manager of Akustica. “With access to Bosch resources, Akustica is further able to deliver on-time and to-specification the tens of millions of MEMS microphones that our customers are demanding now and in the future.”