Development trends of key components for IoT applications

Microcontroller, the key hardware component that enables computing, control and connectivity in IoT and automotive applications, is receiving greater attention as the IoT market grows larger. According to a report, the IoT microcontroller market is expected to grow to $6490 million by 2024. 
 

Microcontroller can be seen in a broad range of industrial applications because it's programmable and has multiple different ecosystems. With more vendors battling to get into the high-growth potential IoT and automotive electronics market, enhancing competitiveness is the key to survive in the fiercely competitive market. Microcontroller vendors' market competitiveness can be strengthen through enhancing the comprehensiveness of products and integrated solutions, creating product uniqueness and differentiation, and diversifying product range for more applications.   

Most of the MCU vendors claim they have solutions that support all the IoT and security applications, and these solutions all include structure design references, hardware development boards, communications protocols and cloud extensions. However, when application developers are developing new products, they are often restricted to work within the pre-designed development environment provided by the MCU vendors. And for cloud service providers who are working with IoT endpoint devices that operate on different systems and communication protocols, they have yet found the MCU solution platform that guarantees 100% integration.      

Currently it's difficult to differentiate microcontrollers from each other because most of them are made from ARM based architecture. More and more vendors have automatically adopted ARM based microcontrollers for IoT and security applications not only because they are becoming prevalent in various markets, but also because they can easily fulfill the frequent expansions of IoT modules. However, only MCU vendors who enable real differentiation and provide true integrated module solutions will be able to stand out from the competitors.  

MCU vendors are particularly interested in automotive electronics and connected car markets. With connectivity, automation and energy efficiency being the top trends for automotive industry, it's time for vendors to develop new types of MCUs to meet the rising demands and to expand to different vertical markets.   

In the era of IoT and security, staying on top of emerging technologies and selecting the most appropriate components are key to successful product and application development. In addition to MCU, CompoSec will focus on the innovations in other security and IoT components that are essential for IoT and security applications. Register Now!

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