Press Releases

Whether it's the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables, or industrial automation, new devices and applications are portable, battery-operated and require continuous power.  Wireless connectivity is required for connecting to the Internet.  Today's devices collect and transmit data from sensors, are always or almost always on and require power.  The semiconductor industry has met the challenge to design devices for low power operation.

Steady demand in existing end markets and growth from new end applications are pushing ASIC design activity to new levels.  This increase in growth is based on very good growth in the Mixed Signal ASIC market and in the Basic SoC market. The Basic SoC market is being driven by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the need for silicon solutions for this segment. Mixed Signal ASIC designs have been growing for the last few years as more systems seek to interface to analog 'real world' functions.

As we close the books on 2015 and look out to 2016, the scenario includes a weak semiconductor revenue growth rate, but continued increased unit shipments, which means continued growth in wafer demand.  However, the wafer demand growth includes some dynamic changes in the detailed breakout by technology and wafer size. 
 

The Internet of Things is a growing market driver, key to the continued success of the semiconductor industry.  With applications ranging from medical and sports monitoring/diagnostics to automotive to industrial and agricultural, there are plenty of opportunities for wide range of semiconductor devices, especially sensors, MEMS and MCUs.  In fact, the market for sensor hubs, one of the basic building blocks for IoT, will grow from 1.1B units in 2014 to 6.9B by 2020, a CAGR of 36%.