January 17, 2013
Joe Holt, VP Business Development, Integra Technologies
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Joe Holt, VP Business Development, Integra Technologies
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After a pause
in 2012, we expect the semiconductor industry to resume at least a moderate
growth rate. The primary driver will
continue to be the "smart" consumer appliances we are all familiar with --
phones, tablets, e-books. With smart
phone penetration only ~40% worldwide and only ~50% in the US, there is still ample
room to grow.Packaging and test of the
ever-increasing circuit densities these applications demand (die stacking, 2.5D
& 3D package configurations) will keep us all busy solving new technical
challenges. But the top firms are up to
it.
One
often-overlooked area we also see growing is military electronics. With the near certain reductions in military
spending coming soon this may not seem obvious, but a little deeper look
reveals why we expect this will be true. Reducing headcount is a primary piece
of the DoD plan to reduce costs. But how
can you do that and still maintain the strongest military in the world? By equipping the remaining personnel with the
latest electronic surveillance, weapons systems and communications systems so they
can be even more effective. This means
that the military will continue to consume higher and higher complexity
semiconductors -- even causing some semiconductor companies to reintroduce
military product lines.
Joe Holt, VP Business Development
Integra Technologies
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