High-performance embedded secure hardware has long been the prerogative of high-compute devices like PCs and smartphones. Today, as penetration into these devices flattens, fresh demand is coming from the IoT ecosystem, says ABI Research, a global technology intelligence firm.
“While embedded security is not new for IoT, which have leveraged secure elements and integrated circuits for some time to offer secure storage of certificates and keys, it is the integration of high-performant hardware that is breaking through,” says Michela Menting, senior research director, trusted device solutions at ABI Research. “Securing application execution, for example, through the use of trusted execution environment (TEE) technology, is in greater demand than ever for IoT devices; and not just for mission-critical or functional safety use cases, but also for general purpose use cases.”
This is largely due to technological developments from the semiconductor vendors themselves, with the adaptation of TEEs to microcontrollers. Further, a competitive ecosystem is emerging, with advances by companies like ARM for security in Cortex-M cores, but also from open-source movements such as RISC-V (reduced instruction set computer (RISC) five). While TEE shipments for SoCs (system-on-chip) continue to dominate at almost [$1 billion (€0.92 billion)] in 2023 (notably selling into the smartphone market), the growth rate remains at a stable 14% year-on-year, while shipments for TEE-enabled microcontrollers are expected to triple in that same period.
Top markets for high-performance embedded security include utilities, industrial IoT, retail, advertising, supply chain, smart home, and connected car. These are served by semiconductors, including Renesas, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Microchip, Infineon, and Nuvoton, among others.
These findings are from ABI Research’s Digital Authentication and Embedded Security and Digital Authentication and Embedded Security: IoT Cybersecurity market data reports. These reports are part of the company’s Trusted Device Solutions and IoT Cybersecurity research services, which include research, data, and ABI Insights. Market data spreadsheets are composed of data, market share analysis, and high segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight into where opportunities lie.
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