MUNICH, Germany — Fuel efficiency improvement and emission reduction, triggered by rising fuel prices and environmental concerns, will drive the demand for MCUs. By 2012, "green" optimizations will account for 50 percent of the automotive MCU market, a Gartner study says.

With hybrid and all-electric drives for cars still several years from being the automotive mainstream, fuel efficient vehicles are much more than those drives, the study says. In all types of vehicles including conventional cars with internal combustion engine, factors such as weight reduction and high-efficiency design are contributing factors to make vehicles "greener". Even the infotainment sector can contribute to this end by supporting the driver with relevant information.

The increasing complexity of the electronic in-car landscape including a vast array of software modules is driving the demand for computing power. For that reason, the MCU demand will shift to high-end 32-bit products with much higher embedded memory content, the market researcher suggests.

While the study does not specify the current market volume for automotive MCUs, it provides a prediction for the year 2012, when the volume is estimated to reach $6.3 billion. 32-bit demand is forecasted to grow at double-digit rates while demand for 8- and 16-bit microprocessor units will remain flattish. This is in line with industry projections.

The market researcher recommends that Automotive MCU vendors accelerate their 32-bit product development to capture the market opportunities created by the "green" trend. In order to improve market acceptance of fuel-efficient technologies, Gartner also demands that MCU vendors focus on cost reduction through functionality integration and leveraging advanced production processes.

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