New technology trends drive continuous semiconductor life cycle for Singapore

SINGAPORE'S manufacturing sector grew at a robust pace of over 10 per cent in the second quarter of 2018. The expansion was largely attributed to electronics, biomedical and transport engineering clusters, with semiconductors leading the output for electronics.

The semiconductor industry is driven by global demand and the industry's business cycles. On a long-term basis, Singapore does not have much to worry about the industry's growth prospects as demand is poised to ride the wave of new technologies diversifying into wider applications including Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices and blockchain.

The challenge is managing the transition of the semiconductor life cycle. The new technologies call for a new set of hardware requirements but at the same time, the industry needs to make sure that the current supply of hardware is adequate to meet future demands.