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iniewski
Oh no...not more wiereless pls...there are too many RF signals in air already ...
przem
How about the connector cost? Even a simple DB-9 can run into few dollars--and ...
Silicon Valley Nation: Semiconductor industry's Windows 8 problem
Brian Fuller
10/30/2012 2:38 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO--The semiconductor industry's problem is a $10 hinge.
The Wall Street Journal's Ben Worthen wrote that the success of the new Microsoft Windows 8 operating system hinges (pun intended) on the ability of designers to incorporate touchscreen features into evolving laptop designs. This means new and better mechanical parts such as hinges and springs.
In some cases those hinges cost $10. And while Worthen points out that microprocessors cost around $100, these are the glam devices on the printed circuit board. The nameless, faceless component workhorses of the PCB often cost pennies (the ones that prevent system meltdown, for example). And here's the problem: An industry with an average selling price of $1.37 can't extract the value of a hinge.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
Cost pressure
This is where the irony comes in. It costs billions of dollars to make trillions of semiconductors. The world doesn't evolve without them, yet their cost must be continually reduced if the market TAM is to expand. And not everybody is Intel or ARM. Microsoft Windows 8 takes advantage of touch applications and can't do it without capacitive touch technology. A Cypress Semiconductor PSoC 3 CapSense Plus device can cost as little as $4.29; a SmartSense device? As little as $1.23.
I know, I know: whaa-whaa...cry me a river. Electronics probably take up at least 25 percent of any system BOM, so the industry is extracting value. But individual vendors, in an hugely capital-intensive business, in some cases are not.
Bill McClean at IC Insights earlier this year re-examined some of his data and found that ASPs are forecast to enjoy a rare rise from $1.37 in 2011 to $1.51 this year. I wouldn't reach for your pointy little party hats just yet: The industry ASP was $2.49 in 1996.
There's no right answer, of course. Higher component costs would prevent a lot of end products from ever seeing the light of the consumer day. And without the intense competition the industry grapples with every day, innovation likely would come more slowly.
But still... a $10 hinge? Is it because you can touch and feel it? That it's not invisible to the user and not produced in a way that's essentially magic?
Related stories:
--Fab lite, fewer startups could fuel IC growth rate
--IDC cuts 2012 chip forecast
The Wall Street Journal's Ben Worthen wrote that the success of the new Microsoft Windows 8 operating system hinges (pun intended) on the ability of designers to incorporate touchscreen features into evolving laptop designs. This means new and better mechanical parts such as hinges and springs.
In some cases those hinges cost $10. And while Worthen points out that microprocessors cost around $100, these are the glam devices on the printed circuit board. The nameless, faceless component workhorses of the PCB often cost pennies (the ones that prevent system meltdown, for example). And here's the problem: An industry with an average selling price of $1.37 can't extract the value of a hinge.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
Cost pressure
This is where the irony comes in. It costs billions of dollars to make trillions of semiconductors. The world doesn't evolve without them, yet their cost must be continually reduced if the market TAM is to expand. And not everybody is Intel or ARM. Microsoft Windows 8 takes advantage of touch applications and can't do it without capacitive touch technology. A Cypress Semiconductor PSoC 3 CapSense Plus device can cost as little as $4.29; a SmartSense device? As little as $1.23.
I know, I know: whaa-whaa...cry me a river. Electronics probably take up at least 25 percent of any system BOM, so the industry is extracting value. But individual vendors, in an hugely capital-intensive business, in some cases are not.
Bill McClean at IC Insights earlier this year re-examined some of his data and found that ASPs are forecast to enjoy a rare rise from $1.37 in 2011 to $1.51 this year. I wouldn't reach for your pointy little party hats just yet: The industry ASP was $2.49 in 1996.
There's no right answer, of course. Higher component costs would prevent a lot of end products from ever seeing the light of the consumer day. And without the intense competition the industry grapples with every day, innovation likely would come more slowly.
But still... a $10 hinge? Is it because you can touch and feel it? That it's not invisible to the user and not produced in a way that's essentially magic?
Related stories:
--Fab lite, fewer startups could fuel IC growth rate
--IDC cuts 2012 chip forecast
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SylvieBarak
10/30/2012 8:27 PM EDT
Time to put price pressure on hinge makers....
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Videobub
10/31/2012 11:41 AM EDT
To you it's a hinge, to me it's a HINGE! For a notebook / tablet that sucker has to both swing up and pivot around, include a path for display power and data, maybe incorporate pivot position sensing, last darn near forever, and look pretty spiffy. Oh, and the tooling for one-off production is trashed after only 6 months of use. For an experienced metal fabricater that's a lot to ask.
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Stephen_M
10/31/2012 1:17 PM EDT
There are several TLA that were used and could use defining:
TLA Three letter acronym
TAM ?
ASP ?
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Bert22306
10/31/2012 6:02 PM EDT
Am I the only guy who hates it when people paw at my PC displays?
Besides, one of our PCs at home is a dedicated TV/audio system STB, for Internet content. Is display is the 42" HDTV. So it would be a real inconvenience to have to get up from the couch every time I wanted to do anything! And then have to deal with everyone's greasy pawprints!!
I'm looking forward to really useful touch screen hardware, where the physical desktop at work becomes an electronic touch screen. And where you can realistically have multiple documents open at the same time and actually refer to them simultaneously. Instead of using touch screens only to make a useful PC feel more like a tablet.
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iniewski
11/1/2012 1:14 PM EDT
$10 hinge might sound expensive (look how simple it is!)...but it is probably a start...if and when the high volume kicks in it will be a cheaper item for sure...who makes them btw?
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przem
11/3/2012 5:41 AM EDT
How about the connector cost? Even a simple DB-9 can run into few dollars--and multi-pin locking AMP and Canon connectors sometimes cost over $100.
I am surprised how power-efficient short-range wireless can be; maybe we'll see it replace many internal and external wired connections.
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iniewski
11/3/2012 9:22 AM EDT
Oh no...not more wiereless pls...there are too many RF signals in air already causing interference issues
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