Maxim Executive: Strong Industrial Market Propelling Demand for Integrated Analog ICs and Electronics for Measurement, Communications and Security

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The industrial market is outgrowing nearly every other market segment and driving growth for analog integrated circuits (ICs), according to Chris Neil, Senior Vice President of the Industrial and Medical Solutions Group at Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:MXIM). Neil spoke to a large group of international editors and writers at the Globalpress Electronics Summit in Santa Cruz, CA this week.

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Data from a number of industry sources shows that industrial was the fastest-growing market for analog ICs from 2006-2011 at a 9 percent annual rate. From 2011-2015, industrial is projected to be the second fastest-growing market for analog semiconductors at a continued 9 percent annual growth (behind mobility at 13 percent).

Electronics, particularly analog and mixed-signal solutions, help solve expensive global problems such as reducing factory operating costs, lowering the cost of energy production necessary to meet the ever-increasing electricity demand, and mitigating skyrocketing healthcare costs. End systems designed to address these issues, including factory automation equipment, smart meters, and portable medical devices, are driving demand for analog ICs in the global industrial market.

"Industrial's surprising rate of growth is counterintuitive, possibly due to its brick and smoke-stack image," said Neil. "However, the 'industrial reality' is that industrial systems companies are addressing big problems that affect us as individuals and as societies, and it is, in fact, a very dynamic and relevant market segment. Electronics will help solve these problems by deploying real-time predictive maintenance in factories to increase the availability of high-quality goods to larger audiences, by reducing peak energy demand by using and distributing energy more efficiently through an optimized smart grid, and by lowering healthcare costs by reducing expensive hospital stays by employing wearable and portable monitoring devices."

All of these industrial applications require accurate measurement, robust communications, and security. "These are Maxim's strengths, and we also have the 'extra accelerator'…analog integration," said Neil. "By combining multiple functions onto one piece of silicon, we can increase system performance, reduce power consumption, make devices more portable, and lower their cost."
 

Maxim is a leader in analog innovation and integration, unique among semiconductor companies in the range of disparate analog and security functions that it can combine onto a single chip. Especially differentiating is its ability to bring its proven security expertise from the financial terminal market to bear on industrial applications. The company's highly integrated solutions help industrial customers create systems that are more accurate, have better connectivity, and are more secure.

About Maxim

Maxim makes highly integrated analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. Maxim reported revenue of approximately $2.5 billion for fiscal 2011. For more information, go to www.Maxim-ic.com.

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SOURCE Maxim Integrated Products