54 The PCB Magazine • April 2017
Top 10 Advanced Materials and
Technologies
The Top 10 Advanced Materials & Technologies in
Electronics Market includes high growth materials
& technologies in the electronics domains such as
G. fast chipset, quantum dots, graphene, 3D IC
& 2.5D IC packaging, organic electronics, flexible
battery, carbon nanotubes, biochip, silicon car-
bide in semiconductor, and smart glass.
Plastic Electrode Stretches Like Rubber
but Carries Electricity Like Wires
The brain is soft and electronics are stiff, which
can make combining the two challenging, such as
when neuroscientists implant electrodes to mea-
sure brain activity and perhaps deliver tiny jolts of
electricity for pain relief or other purposes.
Battery Production Goes Industrie 4.0
A battery that can be charged in seconds, has a
large capacity and lasts ten to twelve years? Cer-
tainly, many have wanted such a thing. Now
the FastStorageBW II project, which includes
Fraunhofer, is working on making it a reality.
Fraunhofer researchers are using pre-production to
optimize large-scale production and ensure it fol-
lows the principles of Industrie 4.0 from the outset.
Updatable Chips for a Safer Internet
of Things
Whether it's Industrie 4.0, self-driving cars or
smart home solutions, connected machines and
high-value goods need security mechanisms that
can be updated.
Rural Divide the Last Big Challenge
to Smartphone Ownership
As the mobile industry gathers this week at the
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to discuss the
latest and greatest in the smartphone industry,
IDC thinks product maturity is not the only chal-
lenge the smartphone industry faces.
Wearables Market Grows 16.9% in Q4
The worldwide wearables market reached a new
all-time high as shipments reached 33.9 million
units in the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16), grow-
ing 16.9% year over year. Shipments for the entire
year grew 25% as new vendors entered the mar-
ket and previous champions refreshed their prod-
uct lineups.
Textile-Based Wearable Electronics
and Fashion Displays
Articles such as clothes, watches, shoes, and ac-
cessories are essential to people around the world.
However, going beyond the basic roles and pur-
poses of these items, the concept of "wearability"
is rapidly evolving to include computing power
and the ability to connect to the internet. In other
words, information, communication, and tech-
nology (ICT) are beginning to be integrated into
wearables.
CIOs in China Preparing for a
Digital Ecosystem Surge
CIOs in China are investing their fast-growing IT
budgets in digitalization, according to Gartner,
Inc. Gartner's annual global survey of CIOs found
that the great success of digital-born companies in
China, such as Alibaba and Tencent, is encourag-
ing more Chinese enterprises to build or partici-
pate in digital ecosystems.
Increasing Usage of Data Centers to
Increase Annual Global Server Shipments
by 3.8% for 2017
The growing user base of smart handheld devices
and the expansion of Internet-based services for
these devices have generated enormous demand
for cloud computing and cloud storage businesses
in the recent period.
Smartphone Volumes Expected to
Rebound in 2017
While growth is expected to remain in the low
single digits, IDC predicts shipment volumes to
grow 4.2% in 2017 and 4.4% in 2018 with a com-
pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8% over
the 2016–2021 forecast. Shipments are forecast to
reach 1.53 billion units in 2017 and grow to 1.77
billion in 2021.
Electronics Industry News
Market Highlights
