January 26, 2004 – A new IDC report indicates that the market for chips used in data communications and telecommunications infrastructure will grow 6.2% in 2004 to $3.7 billion, after a 4.5% decline in 2003.

Capex increases in specific segments such as networking, access, optical transport, voice, and mobile will push the market, according to Sean Lavey, IDC research manager. He added that some ASSP vendors would outperform custom ASIC suppliers, as OEMS turn to ‘off-the-shelf’ architectures to reduce design cycles and materials costs.

The report predicts the market will approach $5 billion in 2008, a 7.3% compound annual growth rate.