IC design industry in order to develop the Internet of things market territory, measures. Resources, many companies choose to purchase more vertical or horizontal supply chain integration, quickly make up the lack of own technology and product line; Resource companies are offering a few customization strategy, or cooperate with different partners, create higher integration degree of the solution.

Internet of things (IoT) concept increasingly forming, coupled with the application environment more hasten is mature, this trend seems to bring strips of gold mountain for IC design industry.

But as a wearable device with car networking applications such as the growing demand, lower power consumption, such as hardware and software integration challenge is popping. Chip companies at home and abroad to strengthen its product line and scale, also follow vertical/horizontal integration of the market, to make up for its lack of technology.

Resources less enterprise layout is not so wealthy, but under the Internet of things "everyone has the opportunity, to grasp the", so this kind of enterprises to choose cooperation with many different areas of the manufacturers, inspire more ever-changing solution; Will also choose to assist research and development of customized products, specific customers seek your basis points.

Those iot business traders on the whole and chip

IC design houses to rob iot business opportunities Mergers and acquisitions have He Xinzhao?

Figure 1's MIC HongChunHui industry consultant and director of the said, in order to find better source of revenue, manufacturers are also beginning to layout the wisdom manufacturing, automobile and wisdom special domains such as medical applications.

Although the Internet business opportunities, but has not been a killer application. For this reason, the IC design industry began to appear the competition mode of M type, one end of the M word emphasize traditional economies of scale, the other end is a special field application; But if you want to special application market layout, mostly in different industry should be tried to integrate.

Institute will industry intelligence research institute (MIC) industry consultant and director HongChunHui (figure 1), said at the present stage of IC design industry still won't give up the traditional 3 c products market, but this kind of market is still out of not to drive down the cost and output speed than the best category.

On the other hand, in order to find better source of revenue, manufacturers also began to layout of manufacturing, automobile and wisdom wisdom special domains such as medical applications.

Compared to consumer electronics, these special field across the different category, let the IC design industry in the era of Internet of things must have a highly interdisciplinary integration ability.

For example, if a wearable device to emphasize health management of the equipment, and even medical use, which built the sensor should meet the health related laws and regulations and standards, to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the apparatus.

HongChunHui argues that for the sensor IC companies, its resources, is more capable of interdisciplinary integration, to provide a complete set of solutions; For small and medium-sized manufacturers, however, you need to find different category of partners, set up enterprise alliance.

The most obvious feature of the Internet of things is not the mainstream current applications, development space is big, whether it is food clothing live line recreational are promising; But for IC design industry's biggest challenge in this also, because of its integration and cooperation with the downstream manufacturers, not only sells a chip/sensor, but for clients with value-added services, such as the production application (APP), or a deeper cloud services.

IC design houses to rob iot business opportunities Mergers and acquisitions have He Xinzhao?

Figure 2 engineering institute IEK system IC and process research manager Peng Maorong said the Internet of things, though still in its infancy, but there's a lot of the whole and case appeared, the reason is that many companies want to make up the deficiency of itself in the Internet of things.

Workers being panels, on the other hand, believes that the Internet of things will ever single chip hardware fight battlefield, lift platform for mutual competition competition. Many vendors are already aware of the Internet of things the commercial war, must gather the power of the enterprise, the common integrating multiple chips/components into a complete platform, can be excavated gold mine in the Internet of things.

IC industry institute IEK system and process research manager Peng Maorong (figure 2), said in the past each other between enterprises merger and acquisition phenomenon, the most mature industry. Although the Internet of things is still in its infancy, but there have been many cases of consolidation, cooperation and alliance, the reason is that many companies want to by the way to make up the deficiency of itself in the Internet of things, whether it is product, application, or a series of upstream and downstream.

In addition, the Internet of things bring IC design industry product diversity, soft hard integration with the challenges of the lower power consumption. Peng Maorong instructions about it, if any of the operators do not have the skills, it is hard to cut into the Internet market.

In terms of product diversity, enterprise can through horizontal integration, into a different product line, make its goods more diversified; Or through merger and acquisition to buy and the production line of original products are complementary, let original product performance to the next level.

To foreign microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphone giant, Knowles electronics (Knowles Corporation), for example, in the middle of July, in 2015, the company acquired a voice solutions provider on, its purpose is to use on advantages, in software to provide clients one-stop solution, and enhance the DSP technology, with rich product line, the company set up more complete solutions (figure 3).

IC design houses to rob iot business opportunities Mergers and acquisitions have He Xinzhao?

Figure 3, Knowles electronics choice in the form of merger and acquisition, establishing a more complete product line.

In terms of hard and soft integration, while the semiconductor industry through manufacturing hardware alone, revenue Numbers very bright eye; While focusing on the Internet of things era, all the way from the cloud of Big Data (Big Data) analysis, netcom are the transmission side, end to end products are the key topics.

Enterprise want to have a foothold in the Internet market, must have the ability to make a complete solution; Available resources more companies meet the acquisition mode, and small company will through the enterprise cooperation or alliance can rushes out one day.

Before operators launched terminal products in the chip can be mostly, but well if you want make a iot market, can be much more inked in cooperation with partners, from the system to the hardware and software are to understand, to create its own ecosystem.

Merger and acquisition is not the only solution/customization can also be extensive cooperation

In the face of the Internet of things on the market, enterprise merger and acquisition between offensive if IC design companies are reluctant to be big to swallow, he must try to open up a new way out. For example, some manufacturers choose to product integration, customization and other ways to grab a place in the Internet of things. Economies of scale as the main purpose, but in the market for special applications of basis points, to be addressed.

On the other hand, in the era of Internet of things, the manufacturer if it is not acquired the technology, so have to rely on technical cooperation to complete a set of solutions, so also applies to the concept of industrial iot (IIoT).

The technical cooperation Work together to build a complete industrial iot

IC design houses to rob iot business opportunities Mergers and acquisitions have He Xinzhao?

Figure 4 ADI industrial automation division in Asia market manager zhang peng, industry consolidation in the field of Internet of things, focus on unique technology is mostly made.

The DE bono, for example, semiconductor (ADI) in the middle of February 2016, announced the business Consumer with Israel Physics (CP) cooperation, develop the industry of Internet of things development platform, to assist customers with the related products into the market quickly.

ADI industrial automation division in Asia market manager zhang peng (figure 4), according to the traditional industrial machines and the customer, for the Internet of things/RF/communication protocol is not familiar with concepts such as, by the power of their own research and development related to development of wireless communication and agreement, will be a very big and difficult challenges. But through the, are working with the CP development platform, can easily help customers develop products, they can use less time, manpower, material resources and financial resources to build its own industrial iot.

As a result, can accelerate customer products into the market. Past the DE bono focuses on hardware development, and through working with the CP, develop industrial iot related applications in the Cloud (Cloud) and application (APP); In order to provide customer small but complete system; In this system can handle wireless transmission and network connection, and this system can be preliminary analysis to process the data, through these analysis, can provide customers more value added.

Zhang peng explain, many industrial customers will worry, if only for industrial sensors, but don't know how to connect to the Internet, or don't know what industrial communication agreement, do not know how to plug in agreement, even if connected to industrial related agreement also not clear whether the effect is good.

Customers can use all kinds of industrial sensors connected to the platform, the platform through wireless and processing unit to provide the customer intuitive product delivery; In this way, customers can according to the actual situation of industrial field, its wireless data to measure, transmission at this point a platform to examine, directly see the network state, accelerating in the wireless and industrial iot validation.

Zhang peng stressed that the traditional industrial customers need to be able to visually see the Internet will be able to function properly, and whether it can satisfy the application requirement but one must understand; So the company development of this platform, together with the CP can support customer processing WirelessHART or WIA - PA industry communication protocol, etc. Whether can complement each other, so both sides of the technology is quite important.

MEMS startups make IoT customization/find Allies ability be short of one cannot

IC design houses to rob iot business opportunities Mergers and acquisitions have He Xinzhao?

Figure 5 GlobalMEMS executive Wu Mingqing argues that different areas of the partners to provide a customer a set of complete and customized solutions, can let the customer more willing to adopt.

Although the Internet of things the whole and tide is, combining the or a big enterprise annex small companies are common; Small and medium-sized enterprises or start-up if don't want to its technological edge was covered with the big company, then must look for the partner to jump out of the single parts of bargain battlefield, to launch a complete solution for a single client, may create another piece of blue ocean.

Chi moving global (GlobalMEMS) executive Wu Mingqing (figure 5), said the trend of the Internet of things brings the enterprise cooperation concept of "cluster", different areas of the partners can cooperation, provide a customer with a set of complete and customized solutions, not only can let the customer more willing to adopt, and the overall price is far much higher than selling single parts.

Wu Mingqing explanation, at present the domestic machine tool and the traditional industry demand for industrial 4.0 is increased, the wave is the company can be engaged in the direction of the future. In Taiwan, many traditional manufacturers also want to realizing the intelligent transformation, improve the production efficiency, no method is bitter.

Manufacturer, for example, it is difficult to predict when production machine will damage, even if has a regular maintenance, the machine could still damage without any warning, caused the lockout of production line.

At this point, if carry sensors on the machine, once the machine has abnormal vibration have been measured, warning information can be through the system, and even can be directly points out the point where the problem, not let the machine stop without any warning, then have to struggle to find the fault point, affect the operation of production line.

However, this type of customer requirements is highly customized, both component hierarchy and module/system level. GlobalMEMS, therefore, on the one hand will rally microcontroller (MCU) and the components of the bluetooth partner, together for a company to introduce a set of customized solutions, research and development of itself will also focus on customization element, because the sensors used in the machine must be greater tolerance to temperature, vibration, is not a standard components.

This kind of customer demand for product quantity is not big, but customization requirements change multiterminal, the main price low, but higher shipments large MEMS sensor suppliers, is not suitable for in the market. Large elasticity of operation and can provide customized services start-up or small and medium-sized enterprises, has its innate advantages in undertaking this kind of order.

Merger and acquisition wildfires burn less than set product: extensive cooperation will continue to grow

Although under the era of Internet of things, a lot of IC design company whole agitation and thriving, many companies began to merger and acquisition of economies of scale and technology action, but this seems not to burn the domestic m&a wildfire vertical integrated electronic radio frequency (RF) IC design companies, the company believes, even technology can't cover the field, will also to cooperate with other companies, design a set of complete solutions, rather than the whole and other enterprises.

Vertical integrated electronic general manager wang is march, said the company no taste for single color, like extensive cooperation with several manufacturers, can have a long-term and sustained growth of maximization. Because set product as RF IC design companies, whether wi-fi RF components, industrial wireless chip, or the phone needs of RF components, the company can provide, in terms of product will be with the main chip manufacturer in the field of cooperation.

If with a single vendor consolidation, is equivalent to in order to a tree, give up the whole forest. Vertical integrated electronic system/application engineer, deputy general manager Deng Weikang thinks, different applications have different standards and specifications, the preference to cooperate with other enterprises, the company will be two different product technologies together, thereby achieve a win-win effect.

If it comes to the Internet of things and, that also only is the product of the whole and the cooperation, there is no a merger with other enterprises needs and concerns.

Set product currently focused on research and development in the field of wi-fi, Deng Weikang explanation, wi-fi and Bluetooth (Bluetooth) or the technical architecture is LoRa difference is not big, so whether it is a power amplifier (PA), low noise amplifier (LNA), and technical requirement of the Switch (Switch) is no different.

Deng Weikang further shows that the company is now most of the radio frequency components are developed by itself, in addition to the product category can't cover, there will be other company cooperation.

As long as the product positioning, right on the technology can be used with each other. So in the RF field, the company shall not be obliged to pass through the whole, and also can provide the customer the appropriate solution.

In the era of Internet of things, the future unlimited, and attractive business opportunities, IC designer must improvise a variety of different solutions, and carefully observe the overall market pulse, cling to the next trend. Overall, in numerous manufacturers invest a lot of money, resources, software and hardware technology of Internet of things development is very rapid.

Whether vertical/horizontal consolidation and alliance/cooperation, or is it for a single customer visit to customize product fight alone, can be irritants networking system further strengthened, and form a positive cycle of an industry