As the complexity of chips has skyrocketed, the responsibility for software, especially hardware-sensitive software, has moved from the systems manufacturer to the semiconductor providers. With embedded software moving to the semiconductor providers’ side that are under extreme pressure to reduce costs and time at the hardware design level, we see IP as truly the new abstraction for chip design. But to succeed, there is a need for reducing the total cost of ownership of IP for our customers, which means newer standards must evolve for how you accept, model, and perform analysis on IP. Overall, there’s a lot of room for standardization and innovation to reduce the friction and really get to the next level of growth for IP.

While the PC will remain the largest single market, with stable chip roadmap, all the diversity and action (and opportunity) is outside PC viz., in highly varied consumer, communication, and automotive verticals that are emerging as major players. With major players focused on cell phones and PCs, small entrepreneurs could look at tons of other consumer gadgets which offer ample opportunity for innovation.