2018 Semiconductor Market
2018 Semiconductor Market
Many of the leaders in the semiconductor industry foresee growth in revenue and product segmentation in the 2018 Semiconductor Market. Semiconductors are a $412 billion global industry and encompasses products such as sensors, microprocessors and memory devices. Since these are the building blocks of all modern technology, trends and innovation in semiconductors have a direct impact on all downstream technologies.
The forecasted increase in the 2018 Semiconductor Market is largely attributed to future innovative advances into new segments such as:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- IoT Internet of Things
- Autonomous Vehicles
Expected Growth for the Semiconductor Industry in 2018
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Industry Profitability
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Company Capital Spending
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Company R&D Spending
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Company Workforce
In parallel to the growth in new technology and market segments, the semiconductor businesses will increase their investment to support this growth. Investments in workforce, equipment, infrastructure, and research and development will be a priority in the upcoming year. Mergers & Acquisitions will be a driving force for business growth for many of the top players in the 2018 Semiconductor Market. M&A in American semiconductor markets are expected to increase. This increase is due to recent tax reform. The large American Semiconductor companies are expected to have more cash in hand because of this tax reform, enabling them to invest heavily in new acquisitions, capital equipment and infrastructure.
“Favorable market conditions for memory sectors that gained momentum in the second half of 2016 prevailed through 2017 and look set to continue in 2018, providing a significant boost to semiconductor revenue,”
Ben Lee, principal research analyst at Gartner.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, announced the global semiconductor industry posted sales totaling $412.2 billion in 2017, the industry’s highest-ever annual sales and an increase of 21.6 percent compared to the 2016 total.
After two years of relatively stagnant sales, the industry cycle ramped up again in 2017 in unexpectedly historic fashion. We’ll what this means for 2018 and beyond. No doubt the future is bright with a dizzying array of new technologies being build on the backbone of the semiconductor industry. Our challenge will be to deliver the products and innovation to make them a reality.
Jodi Shelton, President, GSA (Global Semiconductor Alliance)
Will the 2018 Semiconductor Market show similar growth as the past year?
Memory was the largest semiconductor category by sales with $124.0 billion in 2017, and the fastest growing, with sales increasing 61.5 percent. Within the memory category, sales of DRAM products increased 76.8 percent and sales of NAND flash products increased 47.5 percent.
Logic ($102.2 billion) and
micro-ICs ($63.9 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three product categories in terms of total sales.
Other fast-growing product categories in 2017 included rectifiers (18.3 percent), diodes (16.4 percent), and sensors and actuators (16.2 percent). Even without sales of memory products, sales of all other products combined increased by nearly 10 percent in 2017.
