<p>There are a lot of biological, social, economic and technological phenomena described by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function" rel="nofollow noreferrer">S-curve</a>.</p>
<p>For example a dam building. There is an obvious limitation in the number of convenient places to build dams. The graph shows that gorges promising for the construction of dams began to end on the planet starting in the 1990s</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zzUcC.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zzUcC.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry? If yes, what is the limiting factors that prevents the S-curve from becoming an exponential in electronics industry?
Are there any scientific studies on this topic that I could read?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-15T07:14:44.493Z
Hi! Can you elaborate on what exactly you mean by "*Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry?*" Do you mean a specific branch? Clearly there is currently a finite amount of humans, and most people don't "need" a fifth TV? Or do you mean electronics in general, in which case a limit might be current energy generating capacities or the amount of raw materials available in the solar system?
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-15T07:40:41.307Z
@Giskard I mean a specific branches. In the dam example the limitation factor is obvious. But in electronics everything is not so transparent: silicon is the one of most widespread elements, arsenic is also not a rare earth material, plastic, aluminium and tin are easy to get. But, for example, portable flash-memory audio players
experienced its heyday and decline. Are S-curves in electronics the result of social transformations rather than technical reasons? If so, can we say that the progress of electronics is driven, for example, by fashion?
Arseniy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-15T08:30:06.547Z
I mean fashion is definitely a factor in *consumer* electronics, though hardly the only one.
Giskard
<industrial-organisation>
Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry?
Arseniy
# Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-11-15)

There are a lot of biological, social, economic and technological phenomena described by the [S-curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function).

For example a dam building. There is an obvious limitation in the number of convenient places to build dams. The graph shows that gorges promising for the construction of dams began to end on the planet starting in the 1990s

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zzUcC.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/zzUcC.png)

Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry? If yes, what is the limiting factors that prevents the S-curve from becoming an exponential in electronics industry?
Are there any scientific studies on this topic that I could read?

**Tags:** industrial-organisation
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi! Can you elaborate on what exactly you mean by "*Is the S-curve applicable to the development of the electronics industry?*" Do you mean a specific branch? Clearly there is currently a finite amount of humans, and most people don't "need" a fifth TV? Or do you mean electronics in general, in which case a limit might be current energy generating capacities or the amount of raw materials available in the solar system?  
> **username_0**: @Giskard I mean a specific branches. In the dam example the limitation factor is obvious. But in electronics everything is not so transparent: silicon is the one of most widespread elements, arsenic is also not a rare earth material, plastic, aluminium and tin are easy to get. But, for example, portable flash-memory audio players experienced its heyday and decline. Are S-curves in electronics the result of social transformations rather than technical reasons? If so, can we say that the progress of electronics is driven, for example, by fashion?  
> **username_1**: I mean fashion is definitely a factor in *consumer* electronics, though hardly the only one.  

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