Smart-meter chips were worth $1.2 billion last year, says IHS, at an ASP of $11. They went into 132 million meters.

“The semiconductor industry for electric meters is moving toward a single-chip solution for measuring and communicating with the grid station, which is an important industry trend to watch,” says IHS’ Robbie Galoso. “Water and gas meters require fewer semiconductor components; however, they need extra semiconductors for sensing and battery management.”

ASPs are expected to increase as industry needs increase for 32-bit micro-controller units (MCUs), memory chips, single system-on-chip (SoC) solutions and other components used in secured communications and other applications.

“The movement from 8-bit MCUs to higher margin 32-bit MCUs is a key industry trend,” said Noman Akhtar, analyst for IHS Technology. “The integration of these higher function microcontroller units also requires additional capabilities, such as increased memory, which further increases manufacturing costs.”

Meters are evolving from those that merely register end-user usage, into machines that can be queried for on-demand data, upgraded remotely, shut off in case of emergency or non-payment and used for variable pricing.

Meters will require greater application complexity, better security, improved communication ability, enhanced remote control ability and higher resolution.

That means increased need for memory and system-on-chip (SoC) solutions with greater capabilities in a smaller package than in the past.

By: DocMemory
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