1. Purpose and scope
Most semiconductor products begin as a signal rather than a plan. A customer asks for a part nobody sells, an interface standard moves to a new generation, a process technology opens a new cost or power point, a regulation changes what equipment must do, or a competitor leaves a gap by discontinuing a family. This stage exists to catch those signals, test whether they describe a real and reachable need, and decide which ones deserve a concept study.
The stage is continuous rather than a one-off project. Market sensing runs all the time for each segment the business serves, and individual opportunities pass through it at their own pace. What makes it a stage in the lifecycle is the decision at its end: the Opportunity accepted gate, where a small concept team is named and given a time box. Before that gate the work is cheap and should stay cheap; the aim is to spend the expensive definition and engineering effort only on the opportunities most likely to pay back.
The scope covers market sensing, competitive analysis, a scan of the technologies and standards the opportunity depends on, first sizing, a strategic fit check and the ranking of competing opportunities. It does not cover writing market requirements or a business case; those belong to the concept stage. No engineering lifecycle runs here, although engineering leadership gives an early view of technical feasibility.
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