Global semiconductor sales increased 26.3 percent last year from a year earlier thanks to higher average selling prices of chips, US research firm Gartner Inc said on Thursday.
Total sales were US$594.95 billion, up from US$470.89 billion in 2020, due to strong chip demand in the automotive and industrial markets, Gartner said in a news release.
“The events behind the current chip shortage continue to impact [automotive and industrial] original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] around the world,” Gartner research vice president Andrew Norwood wrote in the release.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“But the 5G smartphone ramp up and a combination of strong demand and logistics/raw material price increases drove semiconductor average selling prices higher, contributing to significant revenue growth in 2021,” Norwood wrote.
Semiconductors have become even more important across all industries, given higher chip content in everything from vehicles to home appliances and industrial automation facilities, and from smartphones to computers and data centers.
Gartner said the automotive market last year outperformed all other end markets amid recovering auto sales worldwide, with semiconductor sales from auto OEMs growing 34.9 percent from the previous year.
Sales of memory chips last year rose US$41.3 billion, or 33.2 percent annually, as the sector benefited from strong demand for DRAM chips amid a shift to home or hybrid working and learning, Gartner said.
“This trend fueled increased server deployments by hyperscale cloud service providers to satisfy online working and entertainment, as well as a surge in end-market demand for PCs and ultramobiles,” the researcher said.
The wireless communications segment, smartphones in particular, represented another strong end market for chips last year, as robust demand for 5G smartphones and office Wi-Fi infrastructure upgrades by enterprises helped semiconductor sales grow 24.6 percent year-on-year, Gartner said.
According to figures provided by Gartner, 556 million 5G smartphones were manufactured last year, a surge of 121.5 percent from 251 million in 2020.
Gartner did not provide a forecast for semiconductor sales this year.
However, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), a San Jose, California-based trade organization, predicted on March 18 that global semiconductor sales would increase 10.4 percent this year, following a 26.2 percent rise last year.
Total sales would exceed US$600 billion for the first time ever this year, hitting US$613.52 billion, up from US$555.89 billion last year, WSTS said in a report.
While all major product categories, including memory, analog, logic and discrete semiconductors, saw significant sales growth last year, sales of memory chips are expected to grow only 1.1 percent this year, compared with double-digit percentage growth across other semiconductor categories, WSTS said.
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