PCIe4.0 is expected to emerge as a mainstream transmission interface standard for diverse notebooks and desktops in 2022, providing significant growth opportunities for ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection components suppliers including Amazing Microelectronics and Eris Technology, according to industry sources.
The sources said PCIe 4.0 continues to extend its penetration to mainstream notebook and desktop products from commercial models, and the spec upgrade for PCIe chips will spur demand for ESD protection components, the sources said.
The PCIe interface upgrade enhances the performance of device connectivity. In addition to the consumer market, datacenters and supercomputers require high data throughput, and the emerging trends of edge computing, AI and 5G networking applications are driving more server capacity for data storage, which is increasing the demand for NVMe SSDs as NVME supports "hot plugging" for datacenters to clear failures, the sources indicated.
Nevertheless, hot plugging will bring a great threat of ESD surges to the system. And therefore ESD protection solutions will be badly needed to prevent related ESD glitches as new-generation SSDs mostly adopt PCIe 4.0 to directly transmit data to core chips, the sources continued.
There have been numerous cases of ESD surges causing chip damage in the system. In the DIY market, users often replace their own graphics cards or expand their network cards and other devices that transmit through the PCIe interface. ESD glitches may occur through the PCIe slot path, causing irreversible damage to the internal chip, the sources noted.
Both ESD protection chips provider Amazing and Eris share the view that PCIe 4.0 has penetrated commercial PC models since early 2022, and will be featured in new notebook and desktop models for the second half of the year, allowing them to expect stable shipment increases throughout the year.
SSD controller IC suppliers Phison Electronics and Silicon Motion have also reiterated that SSDs using PCIe 4.0 transmission interface will be massively paired with new notebooks and desktops to be rolled out by ODMs in the second half of 2022. This, in turn, will bolster demand for related supply chain players including providers of high-end testing services and MEMS chip probing cards, the sources added.
Article translated by Willis Ke
