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Market Trends
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Five Market Trends in Mobility and Semiconductors Reprint 1
Five Market Trends in Mobility and Semiconductors
Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, Senior Writer| July 2013
Wipro Voice: Semiconductors
Innovation is exploding in the semiconductor business because of
mobile devices, says Arvind, leader of Wipros global semiconductor
business. Why? Because consumers are becoming choosy.
Companies have to keep up with consumers expectations. If they
dont, they will become irrelevant, adds the Wipro executive.
Three underlying market demands are creating the five trends.
The three new market demands include:
1. Power demands. Todays data sucks down power. Two hours of normal use and theres
the dreaded yellow light on your mobile phone. Arvind says nowadays the power has to
be as efficient as possible. At the same time, manufacturers have to create a smaller,
thinner chip for lighter phones. The power-performance battle between leading
players will be the differentiator that determines who survives in the coming years, he
predicts.
2. OEM behavior change.Previously, original equipment manufacturers just wanted a base
platform from the semiconductor industry because they wanted to add the software
themselves. Today, they demand more than the hardware. They want the manufacturer
to include not only the software but basic apps, too.Semiconductor firms are now
producing white label phones. He says some companies are designing and
manufacturing the phones for Chinese clients. Everyone expects semiconductor firms
to provide the completed product. Now you have to be a one-stop shop, says Arvind.
3. Market knowledge. This changing OEM behavior now means semiconductor firms must
understand indigenous market trends in each market they serve. For example, Arvind
says the Indian market wants a cell phone with dual SIM cardsone for personal use and
the other for business. Thats not true of the Brazilian market. And in Los Angeles, the
market demands differ from both of those. Today a semiconductor manufacturer must
understand these differences, Arvind says.
Semiconductor companies need a new set of strategies to be successful in the emerging
markets. If you look at consumer behavior and buying patterns in India or China, the reason a
product succeeds or not is very different from that of other regions.
Five Market Trends in Mobility and Semiconductors Reprint 2
These three demands are causing five market trends:
1. Commoditization. A lot has changed since Nokia came out with the worlds first smart
phone. Trend 2 above is causing a commoditization of the market. So the holy grail
today for semiconductor manufacturers is to come up with something unique that
cannot be commoditized, explains Arvind.
The only way to do this is through software. Hardware is no longer the answer, posits
Arvind. Content is king. Content drives volumes, he explains. For example, he says
iTunes creates the excitement of the iPad and the iPhone, not the other way around.
2. Tablets. Content and apps are what drives tablet sales, says Arvind. For example, Wipro
is helping companies become a differentiator in the Android tablet market, he
explains. Tablets are fast replacing traditional PCs and newer form factor devices with
new use cases are picking up momentum.
3. The battle across four screens. The four screens are a computer, a mobile phone, an
automobile and a consumer electronic device like a TV. He says one of Wipros findings
is that user buttons should be consistent across all four screens. Arvind says Apple and
Google, along with the newest player, Samsung, want consumers to be comfortable
with their experience.
For example, a consumer watches a movie on a smart TV. He hears a song in the movie
and wants to know the name and artist. He uses his TV remote to turn the TV screen
into a computer screen. A search screen helps him remember the name of that song!
The semiconductor industry has to provide the hardware that sits in the TV sets.
Google is coming out with a software stack. Someone has to integrate it, says Arvind.
The US experienced this situation earlier when all television programming went from
analog to digital. Someone had to come up with a solution to make everything work
together, the Wipro executive points out.
Immediacy needs represent a huge opportunity. It is a shift that is sweeping the
semiconductor space in terms of how chips are going to be designed. Over the next five
years, this immediacy problem will be solved, and it will probably drive chipset sales in a
big way, Arvind says.
This same real-time information phenomenon will affect corporate environments such
as data centers. For example, managers will want to know immediately via sensors how
certain servers or other systems are performing, how much energy they are consuming
and other information related to cost and performance, he adds.
Five Market Trends in Mobility and Semiconductors Reprint 3
Wipro has developed a framework that semiconductor firms can use to bring these new
products to market faster. Automotive, computing and semiconductors are all focus
areas for Wipro. We can bring our knowledge to bear across all four screens, says
Arvind.
4. Enterprise mobility. Today, everybody wants everything mobile-enabled. The
technology is already out there, says Arvind, especially with software-as-a-service
apps. Wipro is now helping enterprises make all their business processes mobile-
enabled, while being concerned about both security and regulatory requirements.
Bring your own device has become the workplace demand. To understand how this
works, Wipro has allowed its employees to bring their own devices to work. We
wanted to see how it played out, he explains. Wipro is sharing that experience with its
semiconductor clients.
Lastly, Arvind says traditional IT budget funds, which paid for data centers and
hardware, now are flowing to cloud, analytics, big data and mobility.
5. Application development. iOS. Adroid. Windows 8. Intel. Everyone is developing apps
for them. The winner will be the one with the most apps, says Arvind.
He predicts by 2015 both television and computers will be touch screen. Windows 8 anyone?
Combine these five trends with two current challenges.
1. Consolidation. Arvind says the industry is consolidating as every firm struggles with
these five trends.
2. Capacity. Sometimes the foundries that manufacturer chips cant meet demand,
creating a shortage. This obviously creates problems for those companies that must
buy chips.
The bottom line: Semiconductors are a cyclical industry that is not for the feint-hearted, says
Arvind. And thats where Wipro comes in.
About Wipro Ltd.
Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT) is a leading Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company that delivers solutions to
enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and
a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology" - helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A
company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a practitioner's approach to delivering
innovation, and an organization wide commitment to sustainability, Wipro has a workforce of 140,000 serving clients
across 57 countries. For more information, please visit www.wipro.com.