The semiconductor market will increase at 12.5 percent to $522 billion in 2021 thanks to growth in consumer, computing, 5G, and automotive semiconductors.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew to $464 billion in 2020, an increase of 10.8 percent compared to 2019, according to IDC.
Supply constraints will continue through 2021. While shortages occurred in automotive semiconductors in the initial phase, the impact is being felt across the board in semiconductors manufactured at older technology nodes.
There will be growth in semiconductor sales worldwide as adoption of cloud technologies and demand for data and services remain unchanged. Global fiscal and monetary policy remains accommodative and will provide a tailwind for continued capital investments in long term infrastructure.
The market for semiconductors in Computing systems, such as PCs and servers, outpaced the overall semiconductor market, growing 17.3 percent to $160 billion in 2020.
“Demand for PC processors remains strong, especially in value-oriented segments,” said Shane Rau, research vice president, Computing Semiconductors. “The PC processors market looks strong through the first half and likely the whole year.”
Computing systems revenues will grow 7.7 percent to $173 billion in 2021.
Growth in Mobile Phone semiconductors was resilient in 2020. Mobile phone shipments fell by more than 10 percent in 2020, but mobile phone semiconductor revenues grew by 9.1 percent due to a shift to higher priced 5G semiconductors, more memory per phone, sensors, and RF support for more spectrum bands.
“2021 will be an especially important year for semiconductor vendors as 5G phones capture 34 percent of all mobile phone shipments while semiconductors for 5G phones will capture nearly two thirds of the revenue in the segment,” Phil Solis, research director for Connectivity and Smartphone Semiconductors, said.
Mobile phone semiconductor revenues will grow by 23.3 percent in 2021 to $147 billion.
The Consumer semiconductor market segment rebounded in 2020. Robust sales of game consoles, tablets, wireless headphones and earbuds, smart watches, and OTT streaming media devices fueled segment growth by 7.7 percent year over year to $60 billion.
Apple, AMD, and Intel showed exceptional growth as consumers upgraded their digital spaces at home.
New gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony, continued strong sales of wearables from Apple, and the rise in smart home networks managed by Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant will accelerate growth in 2021 to 8.9 percent year over year.
Automotive semiconductor revenue will grow 13.6 percent in 2021.
