By Coby Hanoch, CEO, Weebit Nano
Semiconductors in 2024: Predictions from an Emerging Memory Perspective
Coby Hanoch
In semiconductors, 2023 was a mixed bag, with some applications like automotive and industrial growing, while overall the industry contracted. Looking ahead, analysts agree that we will see significant growth in 2024 as the industry recovers. The SIA forecasts a 13.1% increase in sales in 2024, and IDC is even more bullish, forecasting 20.2% revenue growth for the semiconductor industry in 2024.
At Weebit, a leading provider of ReRAM, the non-volatile memory (NVM) technology that is set to replace flash memory in the coming years, this growth is a positive sign, since nearly every electronic device needs NVM. Here I will outline some of the industry dynamics in 2024 that could driver further growth.
AI will get even edgier.
We can all agree that 2023 was the year of AI, and 2024 will be even more so. AI technologies are proliferating in every industry, with solutions in the cloud and increasingly at the edge where devices require local brains with power-efficient solutions. In 2024, we will see an increasing number of edge AI designs, particularly TinyML, moving to monolithic integration in 28nm and 22nm. Integrating memory on-chip in an advanced process node can save cost and power, and enhance security. This is important as AI/ML models continue to increase in size and sophistication.
Since embedded flash memory can’t scale below 28nm, what’s needed for these integrated devices is a different embedded NVM that can do the same level of inference as SRAM or DRAM but at extremely low power and cost. This is where ReRAM comes in – used not only for code storage, but also to store the synaptic weights needed for artificial neural network (NN) calculations. As much of the power consumption needed for NNs is related to data movement between a system’s computing elements and memory modules, integrating dense, low-power NVM like ReRAM closer to the computing elements can minimize power and latency. In 2024, we will see more designs moving in this direction.
