Semiconductors have been an integral part of hundreds of downstream industries and the backbone for the global technology infrastructure which let’s them sit prominently at the nexus of technology innovation, finance, geopolitics and human ingenuity. Semiconductor companies today are fostering a greater sense of resilience in their operations to preserve innovation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent deglobalization efforts.
However, what is the state of the industry now? Resilience and innovation are in competition while also complementing each other, challenging executives to address both without sacrificing the other.
We designed a study called The Pulse of the Semiconductor Industry: Balancing resilience with innovation to explore these concepts in greater detail and the industry’s perception of select technologies that offer the greatest potential for innovation and next generation new products and offerings. These technologies are: metaverse, sustainability, mobility and digital health.
The industry’s core fundamentals continue to face unprecedented and prolonged challenges. Despite this, we found industry executives are overwhelmingly uncertain areas in the areas measured. This isn’t the first time the semiconductor industry has undergone a major disruption, faced mixed sentiment, or had to change strategy.
Based on our research, we believed companies should accelerate their AI and analytics adoption beyond their core business. Approximately two thirds of semiconductor companies have yet to scale cloud, a technology that drives efficiency, sustainability and resiliency. At the same time, they should ramp up investments in metaverse and digital tooling that can help to address sustainability challenges. Finally, they should discover and partner with ecosystem players (vertical or horizontal) that can fill gaps in the technology and operational portfolio.
After all, if the competition is positioning itself to emerge as better, stronger and more relevant in the future, then innovation and resilience may converge sooner than we anticipate.
