Restitching the Industry

Nicolas Mokhoff Editor, Special Issues/Features

In fits and starts, the industry is sputtering back. As this report was being put together, the word on the economy was optimistic at best and noncommittal at worst, with some pundits warning that we could, and should, expect just about anything. You could almost describe the health of the industry as a quantum state: As soon as you think one way about it, it is bound to to do the reverse. "We are at an historic point in the industry," 40-year industry veteran Nick Donofrio said recently, where in a few years' time "games will lead the computing era." In a world of uncertainties, that statement from IBM's senior vice president for technology and manufacturing is one to which few industry insiders would take exception. While the IT sector still commands respect, the move is on at tech companies to appease the price-conscious consumer with all manner of devices for work and play, at home and on the go. And for many industry players, that switch mandates a shift in business models. The proliferation of wireless, portable, smart and easy-to-use consumer electronics gear is wreaking havoc on business plans at chip vendors, design tool providers and the OEMs they serve. Together with the shifting of labor to China and India, companies must cope with faster turnaround to satisfy the fickle consumers who increasingly are the end users of their products. At the same time, margins are razor thin, in a trend that travels all the way down the food chain to the semiconductor tool vendors. As the global industry repairs the damage of the past few years, stitch by labored stitch, and adds new ideas and methods to the patchwork, our annual Midyear Forecast assesses its progress. We offer commentary from 50 CEOs, analysis from market researchers and reportage from our own staff in the United States, Europe, Asia and Japan. Read on for these experts' varied takes on the lay of the land.

A NEW REALITY
by Greg Lang

NEW VALUE CHAIN
by Robert LeFort

SEMI CYCLE ONGOING
by Young Sohn

RECOVERY REDEFINED
by Aart de Geus

STEADY TIMES AHEAD
by Walden C. Rhines

SLOW UP . . . TICK, TOCK
by Ray Bingham

A NANO-BIO FUTURE
by Jauher Zaidi

RECOVERY IN FOCUS
by Jim Derbyshire

FOCUS ON FLEXIBILITY
by Scott McGregor

ANTICIPATE THE PUCK
by Jackson Kreiter

INNOVATION AT RISK
by Bill Hoolhorst

OPPOSING FORCES
by Ajoy Bose

THE TEEN YEARS
by Bob Bailey

BETTER DAYS AHEAD
by Jackson Hu

INSECURE? NO SWEAT
by Jim Healy

INNOVATION KEYS SUCCESS
by Dan Artusi

SOFTWARE IS KING
by Ken Klein

HOPE IN 90-NM DESIGN
by Jay Roy

FUNDAMENTAL SHIFTS
by Mahendra Jain

FUNDING INNOVATION
by Ken McElvain

A LARGER PIE
by Vic Kulkarni

RENEWED CONFIDENCE
by Sanjay Srivastava

NANOMETER ERA
by Sang Wang

LET GOOD TIMES ROLL
by Jeremy Bennett

HDTV CODECS SCORE
by Thinh Tran

INNOVATION IS THE DRIVER
by Joan Bartlett

WILD RIDE GONE
by John East

FPGA BARGAINS
by Nick Martin

FLEXIBILITY KEY TO PROFITABILITY
by Carl Schlachte

PONDER PONS
by Andrew Vought

OPPORTUNITIES GALORE
by Patrick Henry

ROI: CRITICAL FACTOR
by Luc Burgun

HIGHER-LEVEL DESIGN
by Jacob Jacobsson

INDUSTRY INFLECTION POINT
by J. George Janac

INVEST NOW FOR 'NANO' ERA
by John E. Kelly III

REDUCING RISK
by Paul Sakamoto

'INFRANET' VALUE
by Pradeep Sindhu

ROBUST FUTURE
by Inder Singh

PROFITABLE DESIGN
by Rajeev Madhavan

TURNING ON A DIME
by Toshio Nakajima

POWER IS DIGITAL
by Steve Goldman

OFF THE MEGAHERTZ TREADMILL
by Tom Hart

MERCHANT SILICON
by Vince Graziani

ULTRAWIDEBAND RISE
by G. Roberto Aiello

THE MIDDLE MARKET
by Joseph J. Battaglia

CHIP DESIGN THRIVE
by Chris Rowen

IP EXPECTATIONS
by Melissa Jones

THREE TRENDS PUSHING EDA
by Rob Dekker

STANDARDS-BASED IP
by Michael Kaskowitz

HISTORY LESSON IN RECOVERY
by Wim Roelandts

A surge in 2004, then a slowdown
by Bill McClean

MEMS look to optics, cell phones
by Marlene Bourne

System-level tools filling EDA void
by Laurie Balch

Television fuels TFT-LCD growth
by Paul Semenza

DSP stays the course
by Will Strauss

Wireless markets thrive
by Stan Bruederle

Nand flash leads memory parade
by Richard Gordon

Power over Ethernet's promise
by Marianne D'Aquila

Wireless trends open markets
by Alan Varghese

A different kind of recovery arrives
by Rick Merritt

Europe pins hopes on EU expansion
by Peter Clarke

Is China's engine running too hot?
by Mike Clendenin

Consumer demand revs recovery
by Yoshiko Hara

India takes nothing for granted
by K.C. Krishnadas

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