Global automotive chip demand is expected to double to $24.5 billion by 2008, outpacing the 68 percent growth in the overall chip market, according to research firm iSuppli.

Automotive chips already range widely from microcontroller units that help boost energy efficiency to system chips that read fingerprints for keyless engine starts, and to sensor chips for climate control.

Analysts say there is much room left for further chip-led innovation in automobiles.

"Electronics is where car makers can really start to do innovation and they can differentiate their cars from competition," said Drue Freeman, vice president of global automotive marketing and sales at Philips Semiconductors.

Besides power chips, which can be used to control hybrid car motors, image censor chips are expected to meet strong demand as they help car makers offer cutting-edge safety features.

Image censors, which are used widely in camera phones and digital cameras, can be embedded on the surface of automobiles to monitor the moves of vehicles around them and override drivers' steering, if necessary, to avoid a crash.

By: DocMemory
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