In a keynote speech delivered at the SEMICON Taiwan 2025, NXP CEO Kurt Sievers stressed that AI has ushered the semiconductor industry into a period of exponential expansion. Addressing the future of the market, Sievers stated that despite varying estimates of the global semiconductor market value by 2030, edge AI will soon become the primary growth engine for the sector.
Sievers underlined the immediacy of growth momentum for edge AI, declaring that its advancement is already underway in numerous applications. These developments are quietly setting the groundwork for significant expansion in the AI-related semiconductor market. According to Sievers, the emergence of edge AI technologies is crucial to meeting the growing demand as the industry advances.
He categorized the last two decades by technological eras: from 2000 to 2010, the world was defined by analog, with growth powered by PCs and the internet, while 2010 to 2020 marked the on-demand era dominated by smartphones and apps. The current decade, 2020 to 2030, he described as the anticipate & automate era driven by AI, where technology proactively forecasts user needs and automates responses through a combination of cloud and edge AI.
Growing necessity of edge AI amid data complexity
Sievers explained that the vast amounts of data generated daily make it impractical for all AI applications to rely exclusively on cloud connectivity. Challenges related to bandwidth limitations, power consumption, latency, and security concerns necessitate the integration of edge AI—processing data closer to the source. This shift is vital for applications that demand real-time responsiveness and increased data privacy.
He noted the rapid development of edge AI applications, including the integration of AI functionalities into existing technological products. The scalability of edge AI systems, however, remains crucial to their broader adoption. Sievers identified key sectors requiring sophisticated edge AI capabilities, such as automotive electronics, industrial automation, AI vision systems, and energy storage. These sectors involve complex system architectures that need modular semiconductor solutions for efficient deployment.
Emphasizing the semiconductor industry's role in enabling these advances, Sievers pointed out that companies capable of offering comprehensive modular solutions will better support application developers in rapidly constructing and implementing complete systems tailored to varied demands.
Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem as a strategic partner in edge AI growth
Sievers highlighted Taiwan's well-established semiconductor and information and communications technology manufacturing ecosystem as a strategic advantage. Taiwan is positioned not only as a leader in cloud AI but also as a critical partner in advancing edge AI technologies. This has led NXP to intensify collaborations with Taiwanese companies to capture growth opportunities within this expanding market segment. The local industrial infrastructure and expertise are seen as essential to meeting the challenges and demands of the edge AI landscape moving forward.
Article edited by Joseph Chen
