The market landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade. The communications and computing sectors, previous drivers of industry growth, have declined in importance. In their place has come renewed interest in the consumer sector, and more recently in industrial and consumer applications. Of particular importance has been the rise in emphasis on automotive and smart energy, which has spawned opportunities across a diverse range of applications and industry sectors.
This presentation will look across the entire breadth of semiconductor applications and identify some of the key opportunities for European semiconductor companies over the next 5-10 years, specifying which semiconductor product sectors will be most affected.
This keynote address will focus on the automotive consumer trends that will make a significant impact on the semiconductor industry in the next few years. Infotainment, safety, navigation, rear-view cameras, etc. will all play a vital role in the future of automotive technology. According to Semicast principal analyst, Colin Barnden, "2010 was the strongest year on record for the automotive semiconductor market, with sales increasing by an estimated 37% to USD 22.7 billion, up from USD 16.6 billion in 2009. It is obvious that the automotive segment has been revitalized, what can semiconductor companies in Europe do to prepare for the next phase of growth?
The complexity of today's automotive systems is growing at a rapid rate. As a result of consumer demand for features which make driving more entertaining, the total IC content per vehicle has increased exponentially over the past several years, creating numerous opportunities for growth for semiconductor companies. Will this trend continue?
Consumer demand has driven the automotive industry and as a result, automotive ICs have evolved in the last decade to include entertainment, Internet connectivity, navigation, safety and eco-friendly applications. At the center of this movement, are semiconductor companies striving to design, develop and manufacture chips to meet the changing demands of an Internet and entertainment-focused society desiring interactivity and connectivity in their vehicles. With the amount of silicon content in vehicles continuing to grow at a steady rate, there are countless opportunities for increased revenue and profitability for the semiconductor industry. Additionally, semiconductor companies must now contend with the transition to electric cars. This will increase the electric and electronic components’ share of a vehicle, which will rise from 40 percent in a conventional gas burner to 75 percent in an e-car.
This panel will focus on various factors that must be considered as we move forward in automotive IC technology and to meet consumer demand, including:
Coming soon.
The demand for and popularity of increased functionality in mobile internet devices (MIDs) in recent years has grown exponentially, pushing handset providers to develop products with sophisticated computing power, high-end microcontrollers, video/audio/media processing, Internet connectivity and touch screen functionality. This demand can prove difficult for semiconductor companies as they are not able to keep up because of rising complexity, costs and requirements.
With the MIDs/smart phones market now in an up cycle, how can OEMs and semiconductor companies take advantage of this momentum and better work together to enable one another to meet time-to-market and quality requirements and anticipate demand rather than respond to it?
The demand for smaller, faster and higher quality performance devices has made semiconductor companies look at developing next-generation semiconductor chips that will enable new mobile applications that take advantage of high-speed data connections, high-performance applications, added processing capabilities and long battery lifetime. (Source: Daniel Nenni). To do this, semiconductor companies must first address the design, power management and architectural challenges while improving quality and performance.
This panel will focus on the solutions available (i.e., a process and/or component) which can satisfy the power management, processor speed, quality and performance requirements of new mobile applications and enable semiconductor companies to manage costs and generate profitability?
There has been much discussion in the past decade of the BRIC markets and how they have the potential to offer huge growth potential for the hi-tech industry. These BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) offer an increase in economic and consumption lead by their rising population and income levels. In fact, in the last decade alone, the number of people with incomes greater than $6,000 and less than $30,000 has grown by hundreds of millions, and this number is set to rise even further in the next 10 years (Source: Goldman Sachs).
The BRIC markets pose a very interesting and lucrative investment as well as offering a hot bed for technological innovation, giving semiconductor companies the opportunity to benefit and profit from the wealth of natural resources and labor these countries provide. In summary, despite the uncertainty of global economic challenges, opportunity for the semiconductor industry exists in many forms. How Europe chooses to address these opportunities in expanding economies, particularly in areas where they maintain design strength will portend the probabilities of future success.
This presentation will focus on:
Analog and mixed-signal content is increasing with the wireless market, specifically smartphones, growing at an exponential rate. While this creates great opportunity for analog/mixed-signal IC suppliers, opportunity comes with challenge. IC design is becoming increasingly complex as we move to the leading edge. For Europe to remain a competitive player in analog/mixed-signal, its universities must produce students that can develop new solutions that tackle the most advanced design challenges. This panel will look at how to get students interested in analog, encourage universities to continue teaching courses in analog and keep A/MS talent within Europe; the importance of company/university partnerships; and the future of analog/mixed-signal.
Coming soon
Cumulative global investment in smart grids, including smart meter implementations as well as upgrades to the transmission and distribution infrastructure, will approach $46 billion by 2015. (Source: ABI Research)
According to Berg Insight, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Europe will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.9 percent between 2009 and 2015 to reach 111.4 million at the end of the period. This serves as a new opportunity for semiconductor companies; however, there are challenges to overcome. For example, governments must contend with standardization issues, perceived privacy concerns and a massive-scale implementation. Utility providers from each EU country are concerned with implementation time frames meeting government mandates, the costs and complexity of supplying a total of 350 million European households with smart meters as well as supplying meters for industrial use. And semiconductor companies are faced with the challenge of integrating all meter functionality into a less complex design while making it affordable for mass integration into households.
With MEMS now seen as a critical enabling technology and is therefore projected to grow faster than the semiconductor industry in 2011, semiconductor players have increasingly entered into the MEMS field as a potential high-value/high-growth market opportunity. As a result, the MEMS supply chain is expanding rapidly. The programme for this session will feature various perspectives from players within this supply chain on the current state of affairs in the MEMS market; efforts by semiconductor companies to develop their MEMS capabilities, specifically in the medical market; IC design for MEMS and much more.
