March 9, 2012 — Media tablets, a consumer electronics product sector experiencing "remarkably rapid ascension," will become the fourth-largest application for semiconductors globally by 2014, up from 35th in 2010 and 8th in 2011, and predicted 5th in 2012, according to the IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool.
In 2014, semiconductor revenues from media tablet consumption will hit $18.2 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2010, the year that Apple introduced the iPad.
| Rank (2014) | Application | Revenue |
| 1 | Mobile Handsets | $58,589 |
| 2 | Mobile PCs | $48,239 |
| 3 | Desktop PCs | $19,213 |
| 4 | Media Tablets | $18,447 |
| 5 | LCD TVs | $17,489 |
“The speed of the media tablet’s rise from near insignificance to top-tier prominence is unprecedented in the history of the global semiconductor industry,” said Dale Ford, head of electronics & semiconductor research for IHS, who attributes much of this growth to Apple’s iPad. The global semiconductor industry will need to realign to accommodate the fast growth and vast size of the media tablet market, Ford said.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| USD Millions | $2,585 | $6,864 | $10,673 | $15,253 | $18,447 | $18,162 |
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| Figure. Global media tablet semiconductor forecast (USD Millions). SOURCE: IHS iSuppli |
In the past, the PC microprocessor boom lifted Intel Corp. and the cellphone chipset rise brought along Qualcomm Inc, Ford said. "Media tablets will generate semiconductor demand that is much more broadly diversified, spreading the opportunity among a wider set of suppliers than previous platforms did."
The winners? Application processors, baseband and radio frequency (RF) chips, NAND flash and DRAM, wireless ICs, image sensors, micro electro mechanical sensors (MEMS), light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and power management ICs.
Media tablets and handsets are a key driving force in reducing semiconductor industry consolidation, developed in more mature markets like PCs, Ford noted.
Mobile handsets will become the world’s largest semiconductor application in 2012, for the first time exceeding mobile PCs as the leading chip segment.
The IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS) is available at http://www.isuppli.com/Semiconductor-Value-Chain/Pages/Consumer-Electronics-Semiconductors-to-See-Largest-Decline-in-Q4-2011.aspx?PRX