An eye to the future

The last few weeks have seen a seemingly endless stream of job losses and similar bad news, prompting some to ask themselves how bad can it get? The answer is, probably, not a lot. Gartner Dataquest's latest reading of the industry runes suggests that recovery is in the offing and the first signs may begin to be seen towards the end of the year. However, in the traditional good news/bad news fashion, it doesn't see semiconductor sales revenues returning to their 2007 levels within the next five years. Its analysis of prospects for the electronics industry does not make for easy reading. Essentially, say two of Gartner's leading analysts, 'the industry must consider and prepare itself for significant change'. The analysts also believe the current recession is pushing some companies to the brink. 'Several will not survive', they claim. But another, more positive, view comes from Lisa Su, Freescale's chief technology officer. She believes the money being poured into the global economy is set to provide a big opportunity for the electronics industry – particularly for those in the embedded systems sector. Can both points of view be right? Essentially, yes. While times will be tough in the near future, electronics remains the solution to looming societal issues. Gartner's view that the industry must prepare for change is, to an extent, stating the obvious; the electronics industry is always changing as it moves technology portfolios forward. Su's belief that embedded systems have a great future is right – European initiatives such as ARTEMIS are looking to embedded systems to provide solutions to challenges ranging from healthcare and an aging population to transportation. With 'significant change' in prospect, what makes the best sense is for companies to start planning now.