Mastering the flow of products and market conditions is the fastest way to understand the industry. The semiconductor wafer industry is no different. Regarding the semiconductor chip industry, I suggest you to refer to the description of my following blog articles:
How big is the market
According to a report released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor sales will reach a record $555.9 billion in 2021, of which the mainland’s sales will reach $192.5 billion, accounting for 34.63%, with a growth rate of 27.1%. No. 1 in the world.
Which countries consume the most chips
In 2020, China imports about three-quarters of the world’s chips, exceeding US$300 billion, and its self-sufficiency rate is about 15.9% (IC Insight data). According to the China Semiconductor Association, in 2019, the size of the semiconductor market in major countries and regions in the world is as follows:
| Geo | Market size (US$ billion) |
| China | 144.6 |
| Europe | 113.4 |
| U.S. | 78.5 |
| Japan | 39.8 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | 36 |
Qualcomm has publicly stated that more than 70% of the company’s revenue comes from mainland China. Both Intel and nVidia have announced that both are more than 30%, Texas Instruments (ticker: TXN) is more than 55% (see “How does Texas Instruments make money? Amazing long term capital reward and company net profit margin!“), and laser developer IPG Photonics (ticker: IPGP) is 42%. China accounts for at least 30% of the revenue of other important semiconductor companies.
Top ten chip buyers
According to Gartner’s statistics for 2020:
| OEM vendor | Purchase in US$ million | Percentage | Annual growth rate |
| Apple | 53,616 | 11.9% | +24% |
| Samsung Electronics | 36,416 | 8.1% | +20.4% |
| Hua Wei | 19.086 | 4.2% | -23.5% |
| Lenovo | 18,555 | 4.1% | +10.6% |
| Dell | 16,581 | 3.7% | +6.4% |
| BBK | 13,393 | 3% | +14.9% |
| HPQ | 10,992 | 2.4% | +2.4% |
| Xiaomi | 8,790 | 2% | +26% |
| Foxconn | 5,730 | 1.3% | -1.5% |
| HPE | 5,570 | 1.2% | +0.2% |
| Non top 10 OEM | 261,109 | 58% | +5.4% |
| All OEM vendors | 449,839 | 100% | +7.3% |
Major global chip supplier
According to ICinsights’s year 2020 statistics, the market share of fabless IC design companies is 55% for American companies and 21% for the Korean companies. Taiwan accounts for 7% of total IC sales by virtue of its advantages in IC sales of fabless companies. Both European and Japanese companies are 6%. Companies in mainland China account for only 5% of the global IC market. Specific to the field of CPU, the gap is even more obvious.
However, the latest statistics are the latest report released by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in January 2022, showing that China’s sales share in the global chip market has surpassed Taiwan for two consecutive years, closely following Europe. and Japan. It is estimated that by 2024, China’s sales share in the global chip market will reach 17.4%, far ahead of Europe, Japan and Taiwan, and basically catching up with South Korea, which is ranked second in the world. 40% of the United States is still some way off.
According to TrendForce, the world’s top ten fabless IC design companies in 2020:
| Company | 2020 revenue in US$ million | Annual growth rate |
| Qualcomm | 19.407 | +33.7% |
| Braodcom | 17,246 | +2.9% |
| nVidia | 15,412 | +52.2% |
| MTK | 10,929 | +37.3% |
| AMD | 9,763% | +45% |
| Xilinx | 3,053 | -5.6% |
| Marvell | 2,942 | +8.7% |
| Novatek | 2,712 | +30.1% |
| Realtek | 2,635 | +34.1% |
| Dialog | 1,376% | -3.2% |
| Sum | 85,974 | +26.4% |
Major chip manufacturers in the world
According to TrendForce’s data, Taiwan accounted for 64% of the nearly US$90 billion in wafer foundry revenue worldwide, South Korea accounted for 18%, and Mainland China accounted for 6%. But 20 years ago, the United States manufactured 40% of the world’s semiconductor wafers. Today, the US manufactures only 12%. The top ten global foundries in the first quarter of 2021，
| Company | Revenue in US$ million | Annual growth rate |
| TSMC | 12,910 | +25% |
| Samsung Electronics | 4,052 | +11% |
| UMC | 1,603 | +14% |
| GlobalFountries | 1,469 | +8% |
| SMIC | 1,059 | +17% |
| TowerJazz | 345 | +15% |
| PSMC | 340 | +20% |
| VIS | 327 | +26% |
| Hua Hong | 288 | +42% |
| DB HiTek | 197 | +4% |
| Combined | 22,590 | +20% |
Where are the chips used?
According to IDC’s 2020 statistics, the uses of chips produced worldwide are as follows:
| Applied areas | Percentage |
| Computers | 39.7% |
| Communication and phone | 35% |
| Consumer electronics | 10.1% |
| Auto | 7.5% |
| Industrial and other | 7.5% |
Chip categories
According to IDC’s 2020 statistics, the main types of chips produced globally are as follows:
| Chip category | Market size in US$ billion | Annual growth rate |
| DRAM ( data by SIA) | 117.3 | +4% |
| Storage, NAND (data by SIA) | 49.5 | +23.1% |
| Computer | 152 | +10.9% |
| Mobile phone | 114.9 | +3% |
| Auto | 37 | -8.4% |
Detailed chip categories and growth rate
According to the 33 IC product categories defined by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, the IC Insights report points out that the output of major chip types produced worldwide in 2020 and the growth rate in 2021 are as follows:
| Product category | 2020 growth rate | 2021 growth rate |
| Industrial/other/spcl purpose logic | +12% | +47% |
| DRAM | +8% | +41% |
| Auto-spcl purpose logic | +10% | +39% |
| Consumer-special purpose logic | +8% | +38% |
| Mobile phone AP | +24% | +34% |
| Auto-App-specific analog | -7% | +31% |
| Display drivers | +13% | +31% |
| Wireless comm-App-specific analog | +8% | +28% |
| Wireless comm-Spcl purpose logic | +24% | +26% |
| Consumer-App specific analog | +8% | +25% |
| 32-bit MCU | +3% | +24% |
| Power management analog | +4% | +24% |
| Total IC market | +13% | +24% |
| Amplifiers/comparators | +1% | +22% |
| DSP | -10% | +22% |
| Industrial/other-App specific analog | +2% | +22% |
| NAND flash | +25% | +22% |
| Computer peripherals-spcl purpose logic | +31% | +21% |
| General purpose logic | +3% | +21% |
| Interface | +10% | +21% |
| NOR flash | +0% | +21% |
| Computer-App specific analog | +6% | +18% |
| Wired Comm-App-specific analog | +17% | +18% |
| Wired Comm-Spcl-purpose logic | +12% | +15% |
| 16 bits MCU | -8% | +13% |
| EEPROM | -2% | +13% |
| Signal conversion | -2% | +13% |
| Embedded MPUs | +11% | +11% |
| PLDs | -5% | +10% |
| Standard cell | -4% | +10% |
| SRAM | +5% | +8% |
| Computer CPU | +14% | +4% |
| 4/8 bits MCU | -10% | +3% |
| Gate array | +28% | -33% |
How many chips shipped?
According to IC Insights statistics, the application categories of global semiconductor shipments in 2020:
| Total chips shipped worldwide | 1.0363 trillion |
| Discrete chip | 41% |
| Opticol chip | 25% |
| Analog | 17% |
| Standard logic | 6% |
| Memory | 5% |
| MCU | 3% |
| Sensor | 3% |
Related articles
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- “Comparison of TSMC, Intel, and Samsung’s new process roadmaps for future chips“
- “Two long-term threats to TSMC: US and SMIC“
- “Why is TSMC’s profit margin much greater than competitors?“
- “How does Intel make money? and the benefits to invest in it“
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- “6 common wrong semiconductor investment myths“
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- “Global semiconductor chip market in detail“
- “How does Texas Instruments make money? Amazing long term capital reward and company net profit margin!“
- “How AMD makes money? A rare case of turning defeat into victory“
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- “Significant changes in Broadcom’s business approach“
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- “Global semiconductor chip market in detail, big dominators and markets“
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