Microelectronics in the eighties

Abstract

Microelectronics the integration of electronic functions into a small physical volume has made incredible progress during the last decade. Semiconductor memory, microprocessors, optoelectronic devices and solid-state lasers, just to name a few, all have come of age during this time. The impact of such new products has been formidable and in some cases traumatic. New industries were born while the competitive balance of others was severely upset. The calculator industry, the cash-register industry, the watch industry, the toy industry, the videogame industry, the personal computer industry are just few examples of the dramatic changes brought about by the rapid progress of microelectronics. During the seventies the microelectronics industry has been primarily technology-driven. By this I mean that progress was essentially bound by the rate of technological innovation. Technology mastery was the most important ingredient to enter and prosper in the industry. As the eighties unfold, I believe that technology will gradually lose the dominant role played in the past as new economi-