This paper describes the emerging trends in the major business segments of the integrated circuit industry. As the integrated circuit technology approaches its ultimate scaling limit, the different segments of the industry are evolving continuously by adopting new business strategies to gain competitive advantage: the manufacturing is persistently releasing next generation technologies, dedicated foundries are transitioning to complete product development solution providers, fabless companies are adopting innovative business strategies, integrated device manufacturers are transitioning to fab-lite, and the assembly and test is developing scaled packages. This paper discusses the evolution of these major business segments in the microelectronics industry.
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