AI, cloud, and IoT will drive 2018 growth, say chip makers

Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT) will have bigger impacts on the revenues of chip makers in 2018, according to accounting firm KPMG's survey of 150 semiconductor industry leaders. Two-thirds of the leaders cited IoT as one of the top revenue drivers, up from 56 percent in last year's survey. Cloud computing and AI were each cited by 43 percent of leaders, compared to 27 percent last year for cloud and 18 percent for AI. Wireless communications was at the top of the list, but it was cited by fewer respondents this year. "The increasing demand for IoT, AI, and cloud applications is driven by their individual value and their value to each other. Cloud infrastructure is critical to enabling AI and capturing IoT-produced data. AI will enable better analysis and use of the data," said KPMG global semiconductor industry leader Lincoln Clark, in a statement.