US companies dominate the global IC industry, with 52 percent of the worldwide market in 2018

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – U.S. companies dominate the global integrated circuit (IC) industry, holding a 52

percent share of the total worldwide IC market in 2018. Taiwan took second place with its 16 percent share of the worldwide IC design market, according to a report published by IC Insights.

Overall, U.S.-headquartered companies show the most balance with regard to integrated device manufacturer (IDM), fabless, and total IC industry market share, with 46 percent of the IDM global market share and 68 percent of the IC design market share, according to IC Insights.

The market research institute said the total IC industry grew by 14 percent last year. Driven by a surge in DRAM and NAND flash memory IC sales in 2018, South Korean-headquartered companies registered the biggest sales increase, at 26 percent, outpacing Chinese companies by 3 percentage points last year.

South Korean and Chinese companies were the only countries to grow faster than the total IC industry (14 percent) last year. However, with the memory market expected to show a huge 30 percent drop in 2019, it is likely that South Korean companies will go from “first to worst” regarding IC sales growth compared to last year, according to the market research institute.    [FULL  STORY]