ThePulseofthe
Semiconductor
Industry
Balancingresiliencewithinnovation
Copyright(c)2022Accenture.Allrightsreserved.Introduction
Semiconductorcompaniesareatthecenteroftechnologyinnovation,
finance,geopolitics,andhumaningenuity,touchingvirtuallyeveryaspect
ofbusinessandpeople’slives.Thepastfewyears,however,havebeenfar
fromsmoothsailing.Theindustryisstillreelingfromthechipshortagecrisis,
andmanufacturersarebeingchallengedtobuildgreaterresiliencydueto
continuallyincreasingdemandsonthesupplychain.
Semiconductorcompaniesalsofaceongoingconflictsthataredisruptingenergysupplies,record
economicinflationandfearsofrecession,andatightlabormarketthat’smakingitdifficultfor
companiestorecruitandretainskilledtalent.
Battlingdisruptionsonmultiplefrontscanmakeitdifficultforsemiconductorcompaniestoachieve
theirgrowthgoals.Buttheopportunitiesarethere.NewAccentureresearch(seebox,“Aboutthe
Research”)exploresthechallengestheindustryfaces,aswellashowcurrentandfuturetrendsare
creatingsignificantpotentialforsemiconductorcompaniestotransformtheirbusinessandcapitalize
onemerginggrowthopportunities.
01Thestateoftheindustrytoday;
Wesurveyed300global
semiconductorexecutives02Thetwo-yearoutlookfortechnologies,products;and
togettheirinsightson:
03Theroleofsemiconductorsinboth.
ThePulseoftheSemiconductorIndustry:Balancingresiliencewithinnovation|Copyright(c)2022Accenture.Allrightsreserved.2Ourstudyexploredfourselectdemand-generatingapplicationsthatholdthegreatestpotentialfor
semiconductorcompaniestotransformtheirbusinessandofferings:
ofthefourdemand-generatingapplications,executives
28%viewthemetaverseasthemostlikelytoachieve
Metaversecommercializationatscalewithinthenexttwoyears.
Almostseveninten(67%)agreethatsemiconductorsarethe
Seemore
capabilitiesmostcriticaltothemetaverse’sdevelopment.
ofrespondentscitedsustainabilityisthemost
37%likelytoplaythelargestroleinthesemiconductor
Sustainabilityvaluechainwithinthenextfiveyears.
64%ofexecutivesbelievesemiconductormanufacturingcouldachieve
Seemore
anet-zeroyear-over-yearcarbonemissionsgrowthwithintwoyears.
ofexecutivesthinkofmotorvehiclemanufacturing
93%companyshouldpartnerwithatechnologycompany
Mobilityonnext-generationmobilitytechnologies.
Amajorityofrespondentsviewedsemiconductordesignfirmsor
Seemore
integrateddevicemanufacturersaretheidealpartners.
ofrespondentsbelievethatwithindigitalhealth,
28%wearableswillbenefitthemostfromcontinued
Digitalhealthsemiconductorinnovation.
36%ofexecutivesthinkwearablesarealreadyhavingasignificant
Seemore
impactonimprovinghealth.
01Theyrepresentthelargestquantityofnewproduct
introductionsandinnovativetechnologiesinthepast
Weselectedthese12months;and
areasfortworeasons:
02Regardlessofcountry,thesearetopprioritiesacross
theglobalsemiconductorindustry.
ThePulseoftheSemiconductorIndustry:Balancingresiliencewithinnovation|Copyright(c)2022Accenture.Allrightsreserved.3Thefuture
Beforedivingintothefourfocusareas,let’shighlightwhatsemiconductorexecutivesthinkabout
thestateoftheindustrytoday,andtwoyearsfromnow.
Inflationandeconomicconcernscontinuetobethetopchallengeforthesemiconductor
supplychainamongexecutivessurveyed(Figure1).Furthermore,executivesbelieveecosystem
considerationssuchaschipsovereigntyandgeopoliticswillhavethegreatestimpacton
semiconductorinnovationinthenext12months(Figure2).Infact,56%ofexecutivesbelievethe
bestwaytoenhancetheindustry’sresilienceisbypromotingstrongIPprotectionandenforcement
socompaniescansharetechnologywhileguardingtheirinvestment.
Figure1:Greatestchallengesforthesemiconductorsupplychaintoday
35%20%18%14%12%
Inflation/LingeringCovid-19TalentPipelineLackofGeopolitics
EconomicConcernsImplicationsInvestment
Figure2:Factorswiththegreatestimpactonsemiconductorinnovationinthenextyear
48%42%39%
EcosystemconsiderationsCybersecurityChanging
likechipsovereignty(company-levelcompetitive
andgeopoliticsandIoTdevice)landscape
ThePulseoftheSemiconductorIndustry:Balancingresiliencewithinnovation|Copyright(c)2022Accenture.Allrightsreserved.4Executivesalsoreportedanexpandingroleforartificialintelligence(AI)—bothintheenterpriseand
inthesemiconductordevelopmentprocess.Oneintwo(50%)ofrespondentssaidtheyareeither
deployingorscalingAI’suseinanalytics,andjustoverhalf(52%)reportedtheircompanyrelies
onanevenbalancebetweenhumansandAIindevelopment.21%indicatedtheircompaniesrely
mostlyonAIinsemiconductordevelopment.
Whatdoesthefutureholdfortheindustry?Executiveswereremarkablyconsistentintheirviews.
Figure3illustratestheirtoppredictionsforthenexttwoyears,withthetalentshortagetopofmind,
slightlyaheadofsupplychainchallengesandin-housechipmanufacturing.
Figure3:Howthesemiconductorindustrylandscapewillchangeby2024
ThesupplychainwillbefreefromCOVID-19;slingeringeffects77%
Thesemiconductorsupplychainchallengeswillberesolved76%
Themajorityofconsumertechnologycompanieswillmovesemiconductormanufacturing
capabilitiesin-house75%
Theindustry;stalentshortagewillberesolved74%
Themajorityofthesupplychainwillbedigitizedwithcloud,analytics,etc.73%
Themetaverse;scomputationalinfrastructurewillbecompletedinlightofthecurrent
chipshortageandsupplychainfragility72%
Withtheseinsightsasthegeneralbackdropforwheretheindustryistodayandwhereit’sheaded,
let’sexplorewhatexecutiveshadtosayaboutthefourfocusareas:themetaverse,sustainability,
mobility,anddigitalhealth.
ThePulseoftheSemiconductorIndustry:Balancingresiliencewithinnovation|Copyright(c)2022Accenture.Allrightsreserved.5