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What's Hot in Electronics for 2010?
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Consumer electronics are undergoing changes spurred by consumer behavior. Data usage, connectivity, miniaturization, and aesthetics/ergonomics are driving new product introductions (NPI).
Following a very tough first half, 2009 demand and production of consumer electronics showed signs of recovery. However, demand for some of the most recognizable products has slowed and 2010 will likely see the emergence of some strong consumer electronics newcomers. New components will support the increased data needs, portability and cost concerns, and LED consumption of modern electronics users.
Data Consumption
Behavior also is changing. In January 2010, ComScore said 173 million U.S. Internet users watched online video compared to 147 million in January 2009. But this is only half of the story, as each viewer watched an average of 93 videos a May/June, up 50% from the previous year. All of this means that video views increased by +133% whereas viewers only increased 18%. While the numbers are significant, this is only one small part of the massive increase in data transmission and innovations that we are going to see this year.
Supporting this increased data throughput are two main industry segments: infrastructure and end-equipment. Both of these will see significant change during 2010. 4G technology, which increases performance by 10× over the previous generation, will require new high-performance components and will enable many new end-customer services like more interactive game systems and other enhanced graphics capabilities, which will proliferate globally in the coming years.
Wireless Mobile Technologies
Prime View International estimates there will be 10 million e-Books sold in 2010 from up to 50 new vendors. This application, in concert with hardware like Apple's new iPad and other all-in-one PCs, will require a complete wireless solution as well as display graphics and other circuit functions. New miniature power surface-mount inductors in 1212 and 1616 size packages; and high-capacitance (1500 µF, 6.3 V), low-profile conformally coated tantalum capacitors meet this high pulse requirement and will also help to reduce weight and size. Mobile TV will be another entertainment enhancement that will gain traction in 2010. New chip antennas with reception in the 470 MHz to 1.1 GHz frequency range are transforming mobile television into a more viable application.
The PC market will see over 360 million units shipped in 2010, according to Gartner, but increasingly netbooks and emerging applications like the iPad will cannibalize this product segment. The pressure points these technologies are looking to exploit are size, weight, and cost. Notebook makers are addressing these concerns wherever possible. Higher levels of integration are the order of the day, particularly when it comes to power management. For buck converter applications where it makes sense to use a separate controller IC, the high- and low-side MOSFETs can now be combined in a single package that reduces board area and allows better current handling. New ICs take integration a step further, combining the MOSFETs, a driver IC, and a bootstrap diode in a tiny MLP 6×6 package. Where integration of all active components is desirable, new devices can incorporate the PWM controller IC as well as the MOSFETs, which provides 95% efficiency in a 4 × 4 mm MLPQ.
Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
iSuppli recently reported that there were 63 billion LEDS sold in 2009. Astonishingly, that's almost 10 LEDs for every person on the face of the earth. Here's another area where surface-mount innovation is proceeding apace. Much effort has been spent to make LED illumination brighter and more natural, but making them more thermally efficient is of critical importance as well.
Typically LEDs offer about 10% efficiency, while the other 90% is dissipated as heat within the die. LEDs are extremely sensitive to heat; therefore the rate at which the heat can be transferred away from the die determines the steady-state operating temperature of the device and part efficiency. Recently, new and improved thin-film thermally conductive substrate solutions have been introduced. This and other modifications, including solid-filled copper vias to provide the shortest path through the substrate and spread heat away from the die and solder, are helping minimize thermal resistance and enable LEDs that are brighter and suitable for a wider range of applications.
Conclusion
Not just LEDs, but the electronics market in general is starting to look brighter. These are just few of the enabling technology products which will be lighting — and lightening — up our houses, offices, and briefcases during 2010. SMT
Craig Hunter is an SMT Editorial Advisory Board member and director, global Internet marketing at Vishay Intertechnology Inc. Contact him at craig.hunter@vishay.com.
Read Craig Hunter's recent columns on SMTonline.com:
- SMDs in Medical Electronics: Just What the Doctor Ordered
- With Electronics, You Can Never Be Too Thin
- SMT Components Toughen Up for Rugged Applications
- Embracing Brand Value and New Web Technologies
- Power MOSFET Evolution
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