Great blog Tam! To further strengthen your point: "Cypress Semiconductor Corp. today announced that Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. has selected the TrueTouch solution from Cypress to implement the touchscreen in the Wave 2 and Galaxy 5 mobile phones." LCDs are just big semiconductors, so why not design around them? And you are right--chip makers such as Intel should keep an eye on these developments. It wouldn't even be that tough to re-brand themselves: "Intel Outside."
Yes, the manufacturing processes for LCDs and semiconductors - as I understand it - are very similar. It makes me wonder if some of these big LCD companies might eventually buy some of the chip companies.
Tam, The rate at which technology changes nowadays is incredible and the impact on the companies that design, manufacture and market these products is similarly astounding. If your suspicions turn out right and LCD manufacturers get a piece of the action this could force companies that manufacture microprocessors in a bind. I don't doubt that companies like Intel could see their hold on the PC segment for instance simply fall away. Take the example of the type of drives that Apple is now installing in its computers. The company is now bypassing hard disk drives and this is going to change the market much as you are predicting here. If Apple successfully swaps a different type of drive for hard disk drives, then companies like Seagate and Western Digital could be in really big trouble. Would you know if there are other segments of the electronics industry that are experiencing such potentially market-altering changes?
Thanks for you input. Good point about the disk drives. I think solid state memory is already enscounced in most mobile computers and smartphones. But the disk drive makers have moved into the solid-state disk market, and so they needn't be shut out. I don't see the chip makers getting into the LCD market. I don't necessarily see any other big component changes looming, but I do think the hey day of the PC is over. More and more the action is in mobile phones and tablets. The manufacturers, component suppliers and software vendors that are successful there will probably be the new leaders.
If Google has its way, all apps and storage will be on-demand and in the cloud, including an eventual web OS. More and more companies are coming out with online drive solutions, which will have to impact in the future the current PC drive manufacturers. I currently use laptops and desktops regularly, but I can see myself migrating to using iPads, tablets and/or netbooks more in the future for tasks that I traditionally have used on PCs.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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