The past and future of electronics testing [Trends in Future I&M]

To have a meaningful discussion on the future trends in electronic testing, we should first try to understand the trends in the semiconductor industry over the past two decades. The early 1980s to late 1990s saw tremendous growth of the global semiconductor market, with an overall compound annual growth rate of 14.9%. During this time, the demand for integrated circuits kept growing, pushing the prices up and resulting in a large number of companies competing in the semiconductor market.