Building consumer confidence

摘要

The consumer-electronics market is experiencing unprecedented innovation, thanks to the shift from analog to digital technology in signal processing. At the same time, the consumer segment has become the driver of the tech economy as digital media makes so many compelling products possible and the potential of the global market for such products materializes. Winning in consumer-electronics-product development today requires both the needed IP (intellectual property) and the insight into markets in which manufacturers can deploy it. For designers, this has created a level playing field. No longer are consumer products the domain of a handful of electronics giants. However, players in the consumer market must wade through myriad choices, from ASICs to AS-SPs to DSPs, to best implement the next consumer hit. Moreover, design teams must adopt best practices in systems engineering to succeed in designing consumer electronics. These products promise tremendous unit volumes but demand full feature sets and rock-solid reliability. The design team must, in advance, consider functions, performance, and the cost of manufacturing.