Semiconductor Industry Evolution - The Innovation Driver

It took about ten years to sell 1 million black-and white television sets, a couple of months to sell 1 million DVD players, and just a few days to sell 1 million Sony PlayStations. This acceleration is enabled by the exponential increases in single semiconductor device density which has been achieved over the past 5 decades. Market forces are accelerating both the demand for "System-on-Chip" (SoC) and the reduction in the time required to design, verify, and start the volume production ramp up of these complex parts. Hundreds of millions of transistors available on a single die of "Deep submicron" (DSM) CMOS technology, allow the development of extremely sophisticated electronic systems at a price point compatible with consumer markets. This explains why the consumer roadmap has profited so early from the DSM CMOS technology. This is amazing and relatively new.