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Globally, cell phones have become the portable device of choice, particularly in emerging countries with modest infrastructure.
In East Asia, over 90% of all households own at least one mobile phone, according to a study by Ipsos. Western Europe ranks second with approximately 80% of households owning a wireless handset. North America and Canada follow with 75% and 60% respectively.
What's also interesting about this is that instead of hitting a saturation point, demand continues to grow and the average number of cell phones per household is now at 2.2 globally. Viewed from a humanistic perspective, few technophobes are intimidated by a cell phone, while many still avoid the computer.
Feature-rich handsets represent iterations of power requirements and data requirements. The efficient management of power is a primary concern for users.
According to research by TNS, over 75% of mobile phone users list 'two-days of battery life during active use' as the most important feature. Next is high-resolution camera and video cameras; the availability of full versions of software applications; and 20Gbyte of memory, in that order.
The feature set is evolving faster than the design cycle of the central power management unit (PMU). The non-commensurate design cycles along with the incompatibilities of the leading edge process technologies in supporting the voltage requirements of a USB interface and advanced audio is driving new integration points in the phone outside the baseband processor or PMU.
This potential for dis-integration, which will drive continued advancement in feature adaptability, cost, and power efficiency would be unthinkable in the rigid architecture and supply chain concentration of the PC.
The next generations of handsets will be driven by the adoption of GPS and TV functions, MP3 music phones, camcorder-video phones with play-back ability, as well as single USB connectors for charger, data, headphone, synchronisation, hands-free use and video output.
The ubiquitous adoption of cell phones, the ability to access voice, video and data, and the ability to adapt, built into the very structure of the industry has clearly placed the handset OEM as the favorite to lead the next phase of the great mobile device convergence.
Mark Thompson, president, chairman and CEO, Fairchild Semiconductor