Innovate to reduce R&D spend: AMD chief

The semiconductor industry needs to focus on new business models and innovations that will help reduce the R&D spend to ensure that half of the world's population becomes PC users by 2015, according to Dirk Meyer, president and chief operating officer, AMD.

Delivering the keynote address at the International VLSI (very large-scale integration) Conference and International Embedded Systems Conference, being held here from January 4-8, Meyer expressed concern over the fact that the R&D expenditure in the semiconductor industry had been outpacing the growth of semiconductor revenues.

While companies, including AMD, would continue to focus on increasing the transistor density on a single processor, which signifies the speed they offer in computing and other functions, the industry needs to innovate easy ways that would bring down the R&D expenditure, he said.

Terming PC as the fundamental driver of growth in the semiconductor industry, Meyer pointed out at the ongoing transition of the machine from a mere computing instrument to a media-centric devise, offering new opportunities in integration of multiple purposes and functions into a single mainstream product.

Dirk also cited the hand-held devices, which are becoming entertainment-centric from mere voice-centric devices till recently, as another big opportunity for the industry. "A third of all hand-held devises in use are already media-centric," he said stating that the standalone markets for products like cameras are in real danger on account of this trend.

Other consumer electronics, mainly digital television sets, are also set to use more processor technologies, according to him.