Analyst says IoT a boon for Atmel

Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Andrew Uerkwitz says Atmel is “well-positioned” to benefit from the rapidly evolving Internet of Things (IoT).

According to Uerkwitz, Atmel is one of a handful of companies that makes microcontrollers (MCUs) which will increasingly be in demand.

“As we move toward Internet of Things, if you think about everybody’s connected devices today, everybody has about three to four connected devices, meaning connected to each other in some way. And we believe within five to 10 years, that’s going to be about 10 devices,” Uerkwitz explains.

“Everyone’s going to have 10 things that are connected to the Internet or connected to a smartphone or just generally connected whether it’s in the automobile, in the home or in the office.”

As Uerkwitz notes, a number of devices, such as thermostats and televisions that may not currently be connected to the Internet will increasingly become “smart devices.” 

As this trend plays out, those devices will require the components that Atmel supplies.

“So, their core business has thousands of customers trying to add these microcontrollers to devices, consumer electronics, and we think that core business will grow nicely,” Uerkwitz adds.

Interested in learning more about the IoT? You can check out Atmel’s recent IoT SoMa panel on the subject here, Patrick Sullivan’s EELive! 2014 presentation and our extensive Bits & Pieces IoT article archive here.