Communications systems forecast to drive regional IC sales

Communications systems are forecast to be the driving force for IC sales in three out of the four major global geographic regions and overtake computer systems to become the largest system application for ICs for the first time in 2014, according to the latest edition of IC Insights’ report ‘IC Market Drivers, A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits’.

The report examines the largest existing system opportunities for ICs and evaluates the potential for new applications that are expected to help fuel the market for ICs. Figure 1 shows that communications systems are forecast to be the largest application for ICs in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific in 2014. In Japan, computer systems are forecast to remain the largest end-use application for IC sales.

Figure 1.

Communications, computer and consumer are forecast to be the three largest end-use categories for ICs in each geographic region except Europe. These three system applications are forecast to account for 83.4% of IC sales in the Americas in 2014, 78.5% in Japan and 92.3% in the Asia-Pacific region. In Europe, automotive systems are still a key driver for IC sales and are forecast to account for nearly one-quarter of IC sales this year. Communications, computer and automotive applications are forecast to represent 80.6% of IC sales in Europe this year.

For years, computer applications were the largest market for IC sales, but that is forecast to change in 2014 as the global communications IC market surpasses computer IC sales for the first time. Globally, communications systems are forecast to represent 37.9% of the $285.9 billion IC market this year compared to 36.3% for computers, 11.2% for consumer, 7.6% for automotive, 6.2% for industrial and 0.9% for government/military applications (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

From 2011 to 2017, the percentage of total IC sales to the communications and computer markets has been, and is expected to remain, fairly constant at 73-75%; however, the mix is forecast to change significantly. In 2011, 41.1% of global IC revenue came from sales to the computer market, compared to 32.1% from communications systems. By 2017, communications applications are forecast to account for 41.8% of IC sales compare to 32.7% for computing systems.

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