| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | MEMS |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Horten, Norway |
| Products | TPMS sensors, gyros and thermal imaging |
| Employees | 150 |
| Website | http://www.sensonor.com |
Sensonor Technologies AS is a Norwegian producer and developer of MEMS sensors. Sensonor was owned by Infineon Technologies from June 2003 [1] until February 2009,[2] under the name Infineon Technologies SensoNor. In this period, the company was world leading in the TPMS market. Even now, this is a major part of the business, although the latest product releases have been gyro sensors SAR100 [3] and SIMU202.[4] The company has 150 employees and is localised in Vestfold, Norway, with offices and fabs in Horten (front-end) and at Skoppum (back-end). CEO is Sverre Horntvedt.
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The main product of Sensonor has long been MEMS manufactured pressure sensors and gyros / inertial measurement systems. After the transition into an independent company, the company has made it clear that it wants to develop new products in the gyroscope and night vision business.[5]
The company was first established in Horten in 1985, and was founded on knowledge and research from Akers Electronics.[6]
In the 1990s Sensonor had international success with SA20, a sensor for Airbag systems. It was made up of a piezoresistive beam of Silicon.[7] Around 35 million sensors were sold all over the world, and the company had an estimated 60-70% of the European market for airbag sensors.[8]
However, Sensonor failed in developing their next generation of the crash sensor, SA30, which was eventually given up.[9] This led to a decrease in the revenues from 170 mNOK in 1997 to 50 mNOK in 1999.[10] Thus, the early 2000s were economically difficult years for the business and stock market speculation increased the instabilities. Eventually, Sensonor was purchased in full by the large German semiconductor company Infineon Technologies.[11]
In parallel with the development of the SA30 sensor, Sensonor had also been working on a pressure sensor, named SP12. It was designed for usage in TPMS applications, i.e. monitoring of the air pressure in car tires. As with earlier products, SP12 was also based on piezoresistive elements implanted in a Silicon crystal, but additionally, the Silicon wafer was encapsulated between two Pyrex glass wafers.[12][13] It was this technology which made the Norwegian company an interesting investment for Infineon.[14]
Later, Sensonor developed improved versions, SP30 and SP35. Today, these are still sold to producers of TPMS-systems through cooperation with Infineon. In February 2009, Infineon announced that Sensonor were to be sold to Norwegian private investors, in a move that would "benefit both SensoNor and Infineon".[15]