Semiconductor and other high-tech companies are at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies. Despite that, many still lag in a crucial digital transformation component. Given the global COVID-19 pandemic, many of these enterprises have had to focus most of their resources on servicing the massive demand increase.
Supply Chain Management
Before the epidemic, semiconductor demand was rising rapidly, straining manufacturing and logistics. COVID-19 increased stress. First, it hampered shipping and personnel, upsetting the supply chain. Semiconductor factories cannot operate with 25% of its trained workers home sick or imprisoned. Second, the pandemic drove digital transformation and remote work, raising semiconductor demand. Digital changes need cloud data management and analytics. Third, distributed workforces demand edge devices, sensors, mobile devices, and laptops. Semiconductor chips power that technology.
Data and Services Shift
More semiconductor companies than ever are diversifying into data and services. Given the competitive environment and the rising specialisation of high-tech products, moving up the stack makes strategic sense.Semiconductor businesses’ expertise and data become increasingly important when chips are tuned to specific capabilities and applications like driverless vehicles, 3-D printing, and high-end gaming graphics.
Mergers and Acquisitions
The semiconductor business is known for its many mergers and acquisitions. Recent instances are Analog Devices-Maxim Integrated, AMD-Xilinx, and Intel-Mobileye-Tower. These agreements offer great growth potential but also many difficult obstacles. Business process and data pipeline integration is hard to beat. Integrating finance, supply chain management, manufacturing, customer service, and partner management is difficult and subtle.