National survey shows strength of UK semiconductor design

Conducting its market research during the period January to March 2006, the National Microelectronics Insitute polled 450 organisations involved in all aspects of semiconductor design and development. The survey included IDMs, fabless companies, IP developers, design service providers and research organisations located throughout the UK and Ireland.

John Moor, the survey’s instigator and Director of Marketing at the National Microelectronics Insitute said, “The survey really does confirm the lead the country has taken in cutting edge analogue and digital design, with many significant R&D projects underway or in the planning.
The business outlook in the UK semiconductor design sector is also clearly very positive, with many companies initiating recruitment drives and foreseeing an increase in the number of design starts during the coming year.”

The survey identified more than 8,500 design engineering personnel involved in semiconductor design in the UK. In terms of end product application areas, the survey recognised telecommunication as by far the UK’s strongest, being the design focus of 22% of respondents, with 15% attributed to activity in wireless communication. Those involved in digital media – video and audio – accounted for 13%.
The report describes how UK owned vertically integrated ‘national champions’ have given way to a new breed of leaner fabless, IP and design service organisations in the UK, that are rapidly emerging as global niche market leaders. The fact that the vast majority of design engineers in the UK were found to be employed by foreign owned companies was seen by the report to be evidence of the confidence the rest of the world has in the UK’s semiconductor design capability.

The report, ‘Designed in the UK’ is available free to members of the National Microelectronics Institute or can be purchased by non-members via the website www.nmi.org.uk