Will 2014 be the year of the solar-powered family saloon? Ford has a concept car, called C-MAX Solar Energi Concept, which was developed with Sun Power and Georgia Tech. Ford wants to find out if it will be a feasible product for production. The car is said to have a range of 620 miles including up to 21 electric-only miles. ...
Market Research
Better broadband is better for economy than bigger airports, says survey
People in the UK believe that extending the geographic reach of superfast broadband is more important to the economy than increased airport capacity. A survey for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) showed that just 17% of respondents thought that building new airports would benefit the UK economy while only 12% said that building extra runways at existing airports ...
Wireless infrastructure $50bn next year
The wireless infrastructure market will hit $50bn in 2014, said analyst Engalco-Research in a report which puts the global market for end-user equipment using RF and microwave devices at $500bn last year, of which $40bn was infrastructure. “The value of global production for all electronic equipment in 2012 was valued at $2.3 trillion, of which around 50% was manufactured in ...
Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific lead race to LTE mobile
LTE is out of the experimental stage and is being deployed worldwide, according to a new market report by Analysys Mason. Trials show a growing base of LTE in Europe as well as emerging Asia Pacific (APAC) markets of China, India and Malaysia. Analysys Mason estimates that 59 LTE network trials were in progress as of 31 July 2013. This ...
Samsung and Apple to dominate OEM chip spend
“After a flat year in 2012, global purchasing of semiconductors by the world’s top electronic brands is set to return to growth in 2013, as Apple and Samsung contend to claim the title of biggest spender.” So says market analysis firm IHS. Its findings, according to a Semiconductor Spend Analysis Market Tracker Report, are that the total available market for ...
Good for China; bad for everyone else
China accounts for over half of worldwide electronics production, say analysts Semiconductor Intelligence, and China will continue to be the key driver of electronics production growth for at least the next decade.
Will graphene supercapacitors be the best?
Black magic has a new meaning. It is the sub-optimal way most supercapacitors rely on soot from burnt coconut shells and some homespun trickery. The soot is deposited on something akin to cooking foil and that often has the 40 micron thickness of lithium-ion battery electrodes ten years ago, before they were optimised. Contrary to teaching based on yesterday’s understanding, ...
MEMS in mobiles worth $8bn by 2018
Juniper Research estimates the market for mobile MEMS sensors and components will reach almost $8bn in 2018. Examples will be microphones, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and sophisticated camera modules; embedded in smartphones, tablets, eReaders and wearable devices. “With Apple and Samsung paving the way, device manufacturers are integrating multiple sensors, and combining these to enable future services. The need for better ...
China gets serious about driver systems
According to IMS, most ADAS mechanisms are predicted to see a big increase in China due to the growing awareness of driver safety from both consumers and vehicle manufacturers
Bluetooth chip sales boom on back of integration
The fastest-growing segment of the Bluetooth chip market is MSoCs, whose shipments are expected to rise by a factor of 18 from 2012 to 2017
