Technology roadmaps play a critical role in the semiconductor industry and have become invaluable for the development of future technologies and products. Driven by ever-increasing device complexities since the early 1990s, a monumental industrywide effort has been focused on developing documents such as the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Equipment, subsystems, and materials companies rely heavily on these roadmaps as the cornerstone of their strategic marketing, product planning, and new product investment decisions. Suppliers need to work with their customers and leverage their specific technology roadmaps as well, an important but challenging exercise that remains a critical component of product planning, particularly for the large vendors. Many smaller companies are at a bit of a disadvantage in this area, since they may not have access to a broad customer base and may not be able to allocate sufficient investment to an effective infra- structure for strategic marketing and product planning. Consequently, many suppliers rely primarily on the industry roadmaps, which are widely seen as representing the broader consensus.
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