(Image: STMicroelectronics)
What’s at stake:
As MCU suppliers struggle with bloated inventory, ST is turning to AI at the edge. But is ST’s newly launched NPU-accelerated MPU a big enough leap to save the company’s MCU business? Remi El-Ouazzane, President of the Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF Products Group (MDRF) at STMicroelectronics believes so.
The MCU market is in turmoil.
The first symptom is the overall MCU business climate.
Declining demand for automotive MCUs forced Microchip CEO Ganesh Moorthy to retire last month, announced in tandem with Microchip’s decision to close its Arizona fab.
Similarly, amid similar inventory challenges and market pressures, STMicroelectronics reported a whopping 41 percent decline in its third quarter MCU sales. In parallel, ST faced increased competition from Chinese MCU manufacturers and the diminishing demand for factory and industrial automation in Europe.