The so-called ‘semiconductor renaissance’ is tightly related to the artificial intelligence boom, so this week the latest IC market growth figures fit well with the updates about new edge AI chips from well-funded startups. Automotive software is also making news, along with some last-minute additions to the virtual events calendar.
Intel still number one semiconductor supplier in 2020
According to the latest forecast from market research firm IC Insights, Intel will keep its number one semiconductor supplier ranking in 2020. As noted by the analysts, this year the Covid-19 pandemic spurred an acceleration of the worldwide digital transformation resulting in a robust semiconductor market growth. In total, the top-15 semiconductor companies’ sales are forecast to jump by 13% in 2020 compared to 2019. In contrast, in 2019 the top-15 semiconductor suppliers registered a collective 15% decline in sales. IC Insights expects two new entrants into the top-15 semiconductor sales ranking for this year: MediaTek and AMD. Forecasted sales increases for these companies are 35% and 41%, respectively. Peculiar to this list is the inclusion of Apple – which uses its chips only in its own products – and of foundries like TSMC – which mean that some sales are double counted.
