April 5, 2006 – The analog IC market cooled off in 2005 with just a 2% increase after growing 17% in the prior year, but early results show “very strong” performance for the sector — even outpacing that of the worldwide digital IC market, according to data from IC Insights Inc.
Analog IC gains were “impressive” in terms of both dollars and unit volumes. Combined data from January and February showed a 27% year-on-year jump for the sector, with a 52% spike in cell phone ASSP devices. Growth in analog IC unit volume shipments surged 41% in early 2006, vs. 28% for total worldwide IC unit volume shipments. IC Insights cautioned that such breakout growth to start the year “cannot be sustained,” and the firm expects a return to “a more reasonable level” of volume shipments in 2Q06, before picking up again in 3Q due to seasonal factors.
For all of 2005, individual ups and downs amid the top 10 analog suppliers resulted in flat growth for the group, whose $20.89 billion in sales accounted for two-thirds of the analog market (see table below). Texas Instruments was tops in sales with $4.45 billion, 2% higher than the previous year, followed by STMicroelectronics with $3.56 billion, a 1% increase.
Best growth belonged to Philips, which saw sales climb 12% to $2.45 billion to nearly pull even with No. 3 supplier Infineon, which saw sales slump 13% in 2005 to $2.68 billion. IC Insights noted that Philips’ stated intention to spin off its semiconductor division suggests the possibility of it merging with another top analog supplier this year.
Leading analog IC suppliers in 2005, by revenues (US $M)
2005 Rank Company 2004 sales 2005 sales % change % marketshare
1 Texas Instruments 4350 4450 2% 14%
2 STMicroelectronics 3520 3561 1% 11%
3 Infineon 3077 2679 -13% 8%
4 Philips 2179 2448 12% 8%
5 Analog Devices 1965 1920 -2% 6%
6 National 1731 1726 0% 5%
7 Freescale 1211 1221 1% 4%
8 Maxim 1050 1080 3% 3%
9 Renesas 967 934 -3% 3%
10 Toshiba 900 870 -3% 3%
TOP-10 TOTAL 20,950 20,889 0% 65%
Source: IC Insights, company reports