Menlo Micro has shipped its one-millionth Ideal Switch, marking a significant milestone for the California-based company as it seeks to establish its microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology as a new industry benchmark.
The US-based group said that demand for its MEMS-based Ideal Switch, pitched as a high-performance alternative to legacy electromechanical and semiconductor switches, is accelerating across several fast-growing markets. The device is designed to avoid the usual trade-offs between size, weight, efficiency, and reliability, an approach Menlo Micro claims enables smaller, lighter, faster, and more energy-efficient systems.
“Our Ideal Switch is redefining the core technology behind modern electronic design: the switch technology,” said Russ Garcia, Menlo Micro’s Chief Executive. “Reaching one million units shipped confirms that the Ideal Switch is increasingly becoming an industry standard, as more customers realise its many benefits. We are seeing strong demand across multiple industries, and we are rapidly scaling our manufacturing to meet this growth, solidifying Menlo Micro’s role as the go-to provider for advanced switching solutions.”
The company said adoption is growing in test and measurement equipment, where it already supplies 14 of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers, including those developing AI GPU and XPU systems. In aerospace and defence, designs incorporating the Ideal Switch are moving into production for guided missile systems, drone guidance systems, and advanced circuit breakers for the United States Navy. Menlo Micro is also pursuing large-scale opportunities in data centres, AI and robotic factories, industrial control, and power distribution.
The group argues that conventional mechanical and semiconductor switches create system-level bottlenecks in high-performance designs—a constraint it believes the Ideal Switch overcomes by offering better reliability and higher efficiency in a chip-scale form factor.
Founded to commercialise switching technology first developed at General Electric, Menlo Micro presents the Ideal Switch as the first major disruption to switch architecture in more than three decades, and the only platform it says can scale across both power and frequency domains.
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