All of the major consumer electronics companies have a product push tied to voice-assist technology. Apple was one of the pioneers with Siri, but others have recently unveiled major innovations. Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) desktop speaker, Alexa, takes voice commands for everything from music to internet searches. Google's (Nasdaq: GOOGL) Home can control the smoke alarm, and Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Cortana can text your contacts with directions.

The trend toward voice-assist interaction in consumer electronics wouldn't be possible without micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones. New products are incorporating more microphones to improve clarity and recording when sound comes from different directions. There was just one microphone in the first iPhone, but there were four in the iPhone 6s. Motorola's Droid Turbo has five mics, and Amazon's smart speaker Echo has seven.

Research firm IHS forecasts the MEMS market could grow from 3.6 billion units last year to over 6 billion in 2019. The market value of industry sales could rise at a compound annual rate of 13% to $1.3 billion through 2019.