We have some exciting news for you: we’re launching a new publication this year! Each week, Yole Développement will publish @Micronews, the definitive source for the latest disruptive semiconductor applications and trends. Whether the topic is MEMS, LED, Advanced Packaging, Power Electronics, substrates, devices or systems, @Micronews will be there with cutting-edge research and analysis. Micronews had a great 15-year run, but in order to meet our customers’ information needs we’ve decided to pursue a new format and a new frequency.
With that said, let’s take a look into our “beginning of the year crystal ball” and try to predict the major events and developments we can expect over the next 12 months:
First, we expect to see more high-end technologies and products moving to consumer electronics applications. As Yole Développement accurately predicted last year, infrared imaging for night vision and thermography is now entering the pure consumer business via a new FLIR IR camera which functions as a companion module to your smartphone. And so it is that 12 years after the introduction of image sensing in mobile phones, infrared imaging is now available. Will IR imaging capabilities be available in all mobile phones within five years (similar to what happened with CMOS image sensors)? Yole Développement believes so.
Furthermore, we expect to see additional sensing capabilities in mobile phones, what with chemical sensing just down the road. In fact, sapphire is about to replace glass for high-end smartphones, UV LED will enable water purification in your hand, and 3D packaging will bring more power processing to your mobile.
Slowly but surely, we’re seeing more and more “strange and disruptive” semiconductor technologies bringing new functions to all kinds of systems, from cars and photovoltaic inverters to mobile phones and trains. 2014 will be a year of incredible innovations, ushered in by devices that re-use semiconductor processes to provide non-IC functions like sensing, light emission, power generation and more. Semiconductor companies not able to follow Moore’s Law are investing in these disruptive semiconductor technologies in order to be more competitive and bring innovation to their customers.
Disruptive semiconductor technologies are at the heart of what Yole Développement’s analysts cover on a daily basis. Their findings are published in our reports and custom analyses so that you can better understand how these technologies can impact your business, and which opportunities you should consider pursuing. Rest assured that in 2014, the entire Yole Développement team will be on top of every market change, bringing you what we believe are the most important news items and trends! And it starts with the first Yole Seminar on January 16 in Seoul with a focus on MEMS and Imaging. Register now!
Be innovative. Take risks. Change the world. That’s what 2014 is all about.
By Jean-Christophe Eloy, CEO and President, Yole Développement