January for me was a hectic month of traveling to electronics shows and events. I started out the year attending the 40th Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. As usual, it was packed with all the latest innovation in consumer electronics, and as usual, I couldn’t even get to half of it in three days! From what I could tell browsing through the exhibits at the show, the electronics industry is looking as good as ever.
Factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics are projected to exceed $155 billion in 2007, showing 7 percent growth over last year, according to the semiannual industry forecast released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). According to the study, American families now own an average of 26 electronic devices. I’m tipping the average at way beyond 100; where are you?
“The consumer electronics industry has outdone itself once again, with revenues totaling $145 billion in 2006, representing 13 percent growth over 2005, and we’re on track for another year of healthy growth,” said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. “We surpassed original projections for the second year in a row, and the industry outlook is proof positive that Americans can’t do without their beloved consumer electronics. Consumers are benefiting from our industry’s innovations and only want to see more of them.”
On the other end of the embedded computing spectrum, I stopped by Long Beach for the Bus&Boards Media Conference, where critical embedded systems took center stage as the focus of the annual event. Paul Zorfass, analyst for Venture Development Corporation, projected a solid 5 percent growth in sales of electronic components in these types of systems. An industry panel of executives all agreed that the forecast for 2007 looks very positive in all areas.
In this issue we examine the plethora of choices electronic system designers have when developing embedded computers. We have compiled much information on three key topics – general purpose processors, board form factors, and Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOSs) – that we hope you will find useful. As we were doing the research, it was interesting to note that these choices are constantly changing and evolving. There seems to be endless innovation to improve the technology that drives the embedded computing industry.
I apologize in advance if we missed something while compiling our research on processors, form factors, and RTOSs. It was difficult at best making determinations from the material available on which way to go with some of the technology that was reviewed. We plan to delve into more detail on processors that fall into the Systems-on-Chip and special function categories in the November issue, so we deferred a lot of material until that time. Send me your comments and we will consider them for the next update on this subject.
Best of luck as you make your choices and keep innovating!
Jerry Gipper
Editorial Director
Embedded and Test & Analysis Group
OpenSystems Media, LLC
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