11 July 2008

Rich Feature Set Key In Competitive Microcontroller Market

A rich feature set is a key requirement in the intensively competitive microcontroller market, according to a report.

Increased competition is forcing microcontroller manufacturers to differentiate their products by promoting factors beyond performance benefits. The microcontroller market’s increasing tilt toward standard cores, including  ARM, has further pushed efforts towards differentiation, according to a report dubbed ‘World Microcontroller Market’ by market research company Frost & Sullivan.

Frost & Sullivan said the microcontrollers market earned revenues of $14.64 billion in 2007 and forecasts this to reach $19.08 billion in 2011.

“As competition increases in the microcontroller market, manufacturers are expected to reach high performance pinnacles, while achieving shorter development times, improved functionality, and reduced costs,” explained Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Jayalakshmi Janakiraman. “Integrated peripherals, on-chip memories, and power performance are some of the key factors that influence the choice of microcontrollers at present.”

The 32-bit cores from ARM feature a variety of on-chip peripherals, especially for communications, such as universal serial bus (USB), controller area network (CAN), as well as I2C interfaces and service provider interface (SPI). There has been a surge in the number of microcontrollers that integrate flash memory because of its clear advantage centered on programmability, the report said.

Low-power microcontrollers are in demand because of an increasing focus on energy efficiency. 8-bit microcontrollers are popular in emerging applications and electromechanical replacements, 16 bit- Microcontroller units (MCUS) are being used by many handheld and portable devices, because of their balance on performance and cost.

32-bit microcontroller, however, are pulling in market share from new applications that require a higher level of performance in various markets. With declining prices, the report forecast that this area in particularly will start to slice into the lower-end MCU market share.