At this week's DesignCon panel on the future of the semiconductor/electronics industry, the "esteem" group of industry panelists, including executives from Cadence, ARM, AMD and HP, the consensus was that the slower growth is proof that the industry is maturing.

Supply chains are much more efficient now and wild swings in capacities are things of the past. Although, individual suppliers are still going through those swings as orders get ever larger. Also, while cost are going up, prices of finished electronics good are going down. Forcing market consolidation and probably less innovation as companies are looking for the "next 10 billion unit thing coming"!

A video excerpt of the panel after the jump.