The global semiconductor business grew to $338.9 billion in 2016, a new record level, although up just 1.1% on 2015. Sales reached $31 billion in December, up 12.3% on the same month in 2015.
“Following a slow start to the year, the global semiconductor market picked up steam mid-year and never looked back, reaching nearly $340 billion in sales in 2016, the industry’s highest-ever annual total,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Market growth was driven by macroeconomic factors, industry trends, and the ever-increasing amount of semiconductor technology in devices the world depends on for working, communicating, manufacturing, treating illness, and countless other applications. We expect modest growth to continue in 2017 and beyond.”
Several semiconductor product segments stood out in 2016. Logic was the largest semiconductor category by sales with $91.5 billion in 2016, or 27.0% of the total market. Memory ($76.8 billion) and micro-ICs ($60.6 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three segments. Sensors and actuators was the fastest growing segment, increasing 22.7% in 2016. Other product segments that posted increased sales in 2016 include NAND flash memory, which reached $32.0 billion in sales for a 11.0% annual increase, digital signal processors ($2.9 billion/12.5% increase), diodes ($2.5 billion/8.7% increase), small signal transistors ($1.9 billion/7.3%), and analogue ($47.8 billion/5.8% increase).
Regionally, annual sales increased 9.2% in China, leading all regional markets, and in Japan (3.8%). All other regional markets – Asia Pacific/All Other (-1.7%), Europe (-4.5%), and the Americas (-4.7%) – saw decreased sales compared to 2015.
