Collaborative Innovation Holds Key to Semiconductor Industry Growth

The market opportunity for semiconductor manufacturers is riding on the coattails of the exploding growth of Internet-enabled devices. By 2015, more than 15 billion devices, or twice the world population, will have Internet connections, according to a Cisco forecast. “Smart, connected products” are at or near a tipping point for semiconductor innovation, says Morris Cohen, Wharton professor of manufacturing & logistics. However, innovation by semiconductor makers must overcome technological and commercial hurdles to provide lower cost chips with more features, says Ramadurai Ramalingam, vice president and head of the semiconductor, computing and storage division at Wipro Technologies. Chipmakers are “critically dependent” on the industry’s ecosystem to create value in their offerings, says Rahul Kapoor, Wharton management professor. Ganesh Iyer, practice head of Wipro’s semiconductor, computing and storage division, points out that adjacent industry segments, emerging geographies and innovative business models are shaping up the next generation trends in the semiconductor industry. Ramadurai, Iyer, Cohen and Kapoor explore the semiconductor industry’s challenges and opportunities in this ‘Future of Industries’ series white paper produced by Knowledge@ Wharton and sponsored by Wipro Technologies.