Jan 30, 2007 19:43
Nikkei Electronics Asia
The "real-world" is analog, and analog
chips provide the means for converting real-world signals such as
voice, sound, pressure, temperature, etc, into ones and zeros for the
digital world. Analog chips are ubiquitous in electronic equipment, an
essential component in almost all applications in today's digital
world, and Texas Instruments (TI) has been identified as a leader in
the analog market. Steve Parks, director, Worldwide Marketing, High
Performance Analog Products, TI, discusses the significance of analog
in an increasingly digital world.Healthy
State of Analog Market The analog IC market is a highly
fragmented and competitive sector of the semiconductor industry. Demand
for analog has been fueled by the rapid growth of digital electronics.
The analog market in 2005 stood at US$31.9 billion according to World
Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS); and the Semiconductor Industry
Association (SIA)
expects it to grow to US$40.1 billion in 2007. The industry's broad
application markets, the increasing need for high-performance analog
(HPA) in digital systems, as well as relatively stable pricing and high
gross margins, all point to sustained and stable growth for the analog
IC industry.
Analog chips, with
such diverse applications, are broadly categorized as either "standard"
(mass market) or "vertical" (application-specific). Both of these
segments are experiencing steady growth. In-House
Expertise, Acquisitions We have been able to build a
high-performance analog portfolio not only through our in-house
expertise but also through making various acquisitions. Our Unitrode
and Power Trends acquisitions, for example, have strengthened our
position in power management ICs. And through our acquisition of
Burr-Brown, we now have one of the best analog product portfolios in
the high-performance analog market.
TI's more recent
acquisition of Chipcon enables us to provide our customers with
industry-leading ZigBee-compliant solutions and a broad range of
proprietary radio frequency ICs for low-power wireless applications. Analog
Growth, Digital GrowthIt's a terrific paradox that the
more digital the world becomes, the greater the need for analog
components. We live in an analog world, and the rapid growth in the
development of complex digital equipment has prompted corresponding
demand for ever-more complex, fast and reliable analog components.
Analog and digital are thus two sides of the same coin as far as
development of high-end technology for the future is concerned.
Today, from
industrial, wireless, consumer electronics, to next-generation medical
devices and basestations, high-performance analog (amps, power
management, data converters, interfaces, etc) is ubiquitous. According
to recent analysis from Databeans, TI is the clear leader in the analog
total available market (TAM). High Growth
Rate in IndiaA less well known but more
interesting story is India's analog market. India's analog TAM is
expected to reach US$425 million by 2010, representing a CAGR of 27.4%.
In recent years, the
pace at which semiconductor and systems companies have been
establishing their own design centers in India has accelerated, and the
design services industry continues to be a primary driver of growth for
India's electronics industry. Semiconductor companies are attracted to
India by the large potential domestic market for electronic products. e-Lab Design
Center Makes Waves in IndiaThe reason why this center has
been creating waves in India is because of the high growth rates there
- a clear indicator of the direction in which things are moving. While
the global growth rate is relatively slow at around 10%, India's growth
rate is at around 37%.
The semiconductor
ecosystem in India has reached a stage of maturity at which design
engineers are now playing a key design role, both for India's market
and world markets. A huge domestic market provides opportunities for
India to build on its established chip design capabilities. India has
enormous appeal for certain parts of the semiconductor value chain, and
we believe with our analog e-Lab design, engineers can learn to design
and simulate using our software libraries.compiled by
Sufia Tippu
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