It’s now been nearly two years since the global financial crisis unfolded and there are signs that a recovery is gaining traction. Behind the headlines of impending economic doom a quiet revolution in innovation is underway," Lothar Maier, CEO at Linear Technology tells Electronics Weekly
"This revolution is not about shiny new gadgets that come to market quickly and equally quickly get replaced, but a revolution that is bringing new efficiencies—efficiencies in energy, communication and transportation, even in the fundamental ways we do business and socialise.
"We see this in the types of products that our customers want and the priorities that our customers set on product function and features. Our customers are fixated on bringing to market distinctive new products, driving innovation and reversing the trend to commoditisation.
"Innovation is the polar opposite of commoditisation, and successful businesses limit engineering investment that is focused solely on cost reduction because in the end, there will always be a competitor willing to sell for less. Value is created through innovation.
"The key players in the industrial, communications, automotive and computing markets are on an accelerating path of innovation, avoiding standardisation and driving to introduce products that expand the market.
"Industrial customers want products that enable energy efficiency, portability and reliability in a broad range of applications including industrial instrumentation, medical devices and security.
"Telecommunications providers are challenged to keep pace with the ever-expanding demand for voice, data and video that needs to be available everywhere instantaneously with increasing energy efficiency.
"More then ever, our customers are looking to their suppliers to do more of the heavy lifting when it comes to innovation. Our customers want complete solutions, with greater integration, better efficiency and ease of implementation, all in a small form-factor."
See also: Energy-efficient systems are big opportunity, says National exec