I actually wanted to take up another technical topic in my column. But somehow there is little new and successful to report on and consider. And I didn't want to write about the booming defense industry after all - at least not as an innovative force and job engine.
The skyline of Shenzhen, China: the electronics industry is booming here and is increasingly relegating those in the 'western world' to the back of the queueOnebottleneck follows the next. Where is the real fault here? First and foremost, the fact that the western world has managed to make itself so enormously dependent on China. The transfer of technology and know-how to China - to increase profits - has led to the emergence of an economic power outside the Western world that is also going its own way politically. Taiwan has now become a risky pawn - both politically and economically.
The question is whether the free Western world will jeopardize the entire economic system and, in particular, the economic engine of the electronics industry - with the possible collapse of this industry and serious economic downturns - in order to defend the free world in Taiwan ... or whether, in this case, a sacrifice will be made and China will finally gain the upper hand in Taiwan too.
The Chips and Science Act in the USA and the planned Chips Act of the European Union are perhaps the last attempts to escape this serious dependency. The USA is trying to establish security of supply by investing billions. Europe is following suit, but is unfortunately taking a little longer and, as is so often the case, is in disagreement.
Will 'Made in China' become the new 'Made in Germany'?
In the meantime, the quality of goods produced in China is even better than those that once went down in history for it. An example from the automotive world: Stellantis boss Tavares (currently the third largest car manufacturer in the world) referred to this in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in June 2022 [1].
There are, of course, several intentions for such a bold statement. Nevertheless, it shows that things have changed and will continue to change. Speaking of which, most Tesla Model Y and Model 3 cars for Europe have so far been produced in China / Shanghai. Here we can only hope that GIGA Berlin (the municipality is called Grünheide and is located in the federal state of Brandenburg) will soon catch up - also in terms of quality. Important components in electric cars are electric motors, energy storage systems and sensors. Tesla is also breaking new ground here. For example, with autopilot and autonomous driving. Since the middle of the year, a so-called 'vision only' system based on optical sensors/cameras and a great deal of artificial intelligence (AI) has been used here. This fact is not insignificant for the future development and direction of the electronics industry, as several German electronics manufacturers have been suppliers of components for radar systems to date. Is Tesla heralding a change with this? Or has it decided to go down this route due to the possible unavailability of radar components, developed a competitive or even better technology with the help of software and introduced it to the market?
This technology already seems to have a high safety standard. This is proven by the current test of the TESLA Model Y - carried out by NCAP [2]. According to this, the safety test showed that TESLA currently receives the highest ratings.
TESLA is not an Asian company. However, the components for the vision system come from South Korea, namely from LG and Samsung. And if you take a closer look at the NCAP ranking, you will see that a European only appears in fifth place. Second and third place are occupied by vehicles from GWM (Great Wall Motors) - a Chinese company. Fourth place currently goes to Lexus (Toyota) - a Japanese company. The big car nation seems to have some catching up to do.
Spectral sensitivity of the different sensor technologies
The conclusion seems to me to be that, in addition to very good design and electronics, artificial intelligence is also gaining in importance. And this applies not only to cars and trucks, but also to other areas of everyday life. For example, smart robotics, smart agriculture, smart care, smart logistics, etc. - in short, the entire 'smart world'. Why is this so interesting for the electronics world? Smart electronics - sensors, circuit carriers, modules - are at the heart of the 'Smart World'. And this is where we need to stay on the ball. If the Chips Acts are not to come to nothing, the development and production of basic technologies along the entire electronics value chain in Europe must also be strengthened. I'm sure you know what I mean.
You can also look at it this way.
We can look forward to it.
Best regards
Jan Kostelnik
www.tebko.de
References
[1] www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/autoindustrie-qualitaet-nicht-wie-sie-sein-sollte-stellantis-chef-macht-opel-druck/28400452.html, Handelsblatt, 03.06.2022
[2] www.euroncap.com/en/ratings-rewards/latest-safety-ratings/#?selectedMake=0&selectedMakeName=Select%20a%20make&selectedModel=0&selectedStar=&includeFullSafetyPackage=true&includeStandardSafetyPackage=true&selectedModelName=All&selectedProtocols=45155,41776,40302,34803,30636,26061,24370,-1&selectedClasses=1202,1199,1201,1196,1205,1203,1198,1179,40250,1197,1204,1180,34736,44997&allClasses=true&allProtocols=true&allDriverAssistanceTechnologies=false&selectedDriverAssistanceTechnologies=&thirdRowFitment=false
Literature
J. Kostelnik: Trends in AVT - From 3D printed copper structures to stretchable and conformable, 77 Working Group SAET in cooperation with the FED, Dresden, 08.12.2021
