DARPA Effort Embeds Security Into Chip Designs
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Nine of the top 20 semiconductor suppliers are expected to record double-digit growth in 2014, according to a preview of the IC Insights 2014 McClean Report. The Top 25 semiconductor supplier report reveals that sales at TSMC, MediaTek, and SK Hynix are each expected to increase by more than 20 percent in 2014.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) recently reported that the global semiconductor industry recorded its highest quarterly revenues. Global sales of semiconductors reached $87 billion in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 5.7 percent over the previous quarter and eight percent higher than the third quarter of 2013. This translates into seven consecutive months of sequential monthly growth.
The top 20 worldwide semiconductor (IC and O S D—optoelectronic, sensor, and discrete) sales ranking for 2014 includes eight suppliers based in the U.S., three in Japan, three in Europe, three in Taiwan, two in South Korea, and one in Singapore. This year’s top-20 ranking includes two pure-play foundries - TSMC and UMC - and six fabless companies.
IC Insights forecasts pure-play IC foundry GlobalFoundries to be replaced in this year’s top 20 ranking by fabless IC supplier Nvidia. “It is interesting to note that the top four semiconductor suppliers all have different business models. Intel is essentially a pure-play IDM, Samsung a vertically integrated IC supplier, TSMC a pure-play foundry, and Qualcomm a fabless company,” according to the report.
IC Insights includes IC foundries in the top 20 ranking because it views the ranking as a top supplier list, not as a market share ranking, and acknowledges that in some cases semiconductor sales are double counted. “With many of our clients being vendors to the semiconductor industry (supplying equipment, chemicals, gases, etc.), excluding large IC manufacturers like the foundries would leave significant “holes” in the list of top semiconductor suppliers. Foundries and fabless companies are clearly identified in Figure 1,” said IC Insights.
Semiconductor suppliers will need to record more than $4.2 billion to make the 2014 top 20 ranking. In total, the top 20 semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to increase by nine percent this year compared to 2013. When the two pure-play foundries - TSMC and UMC – are excluded from the ranking, the top “18” semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to increase by eight percent. This matches IC Insights’ current forecast for total 2014 worldwide semiconductor market growth.
IC Insights expects many changes in the top 20 supplier ranking after the top six spots. For example, 10 companies ranked between No. 7 to No. 20 are forecast to change positions compared to 2013. NXP is projected to jump two spots.
IC Insights hosts several McClean Report seminars. They will be held in the following locations in January:
• Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday, January 20
• Sunnyvale, California on Thursday, January 22
• Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, January 29
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