Foundry Sales Growing Faster Than Chip Market

Peter Clarke
EETimes (12/8/2014 03:00 PM EST)

LONDON — Global foundry IC revenues will grow by 13 percent to $47.9 billion in 2014, following on from annual growth of 13 percent in 2013 and 18 percent in 2012, according to a report produced jointly by the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) and market researcher IC Insights.

Foundry IC sales are set to grow a further 12 percent to reach $53.7 billion in 2015, according to the two organizations.

Foundry-made ICs are growing as a percentage of the total market from 21 percent in 2004 to 24 percent in 2009 followed by a marked jump to 37 percent in 2014. This suggests the industry is approaching the steep part of an S-shaped curve of transition as former integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) go fab-lite or fabless. Almost all chip startups join the market as fabless companies. By 2018, foundry-made ICs will represent 46 percent of the industry's total integrated circuit revenues, GSA and IC Insights assert.

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