Worldwide industrial semiconductor revenues grew by 11.8 percent year over year, reaching $49.1 billion in 2017, according to the latest analysis from IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO). Industrial electronics equipment demand was broad-based, with continued growth in commercial and military aircraft, LED lighting, digital signage, digital video surveillance, climate control, smart meters, traction, photovoltaic (PV) inverters, human machine interface and various medical electronics like cardiac equipment, hearing aids, endoscopy and imaging systems. The industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1 percent through 2022.

Optical semiconductors delivered excellent performance, due to the continued strength of the general LED lighting market. Power discretes demand has ramped up in industrial motor drives, EV chargers, PV inverters, traction and lighting equipment. General purpose analog has a strong five-year growth in various industrial markets, especially in factory automation, power and energy, and lighting. Microcontrollers (MCUs) are also projected to experience broad-based growth in the long term, thanks to advances in power efficiency and integration features.

“The resilient economy in the United States, and strong demand in China, carried the lion’s share of industrial equipment demand in 2017,” said Robbie Galoso, associate director and principal analyst, industrial semiconductors, for IHS Markit. “A European resurgence also provided a strong tailwind for semiconductor growth.”

Global industrial semiconductor market share rankings

Strategic acquisitions continued to play a major role in shaping the overall semiconductor market rankings in key industrial semiconductor segments. All the following top 10 industrial semiconductor suppliers achieved revenue growth in 2017:

1. Texas Instruments (TI) maintained its position as the largest industrial semiconductor supplier in 2017.
2. The acquisition of Linear Technology catapulted Analog Devices into second position.  The combined Analog Devices and Linear Technology company generated $2.8 billion in industrial revenue in 2017. This acquisition boosted ADI’s industrial market shares in diversified segments within factory automation, military aerospace, video surveillance, test and measurement, medical, and power and energy applications.
3. Intel ranked third, as the company’s Internet of Things (IoT) division continued to generate double-digit revenue growth attributed to innovation and strength in its factory automation, video surveillance and medical segments. Growth was also aided by the proliferation of smart and connected devices and a tremendous uplift in data analytics.
4. Ranking fourth, Infineon’s strong revenue growth continued to be led by industrial applications, especially in factory automation, traction and various power and energy segments like PV, electric vehicle chargers and power supplies, where its leading discrete and power management devices are used.
5. In fifth position, STMicroelectronics solid industrial revenue stream stems from a variety of applications, including factory and building automation, where its MCU, analog and discrete components are used.
6. Micron’s organic revenue from industrial businesses continued to flourish in 2017, pushing the company into sixth place, driven by dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) growth in industrial IoT (IIoT) markets, spanning factory automation, video surveillance and transportation.
7. Toshiba ranked seventh, with industrial electronics revenue growing to $1.5 billion in 2017. Growth was driven by power transistor discretes, MCU, optical and logic integrated circuit (IC) solutions in manufacturing and process automation, power and energy, and building and home control.
8. Microchip Technology ranked eighth, and its revenue growth was primarily supported by MCU solutions in manufacturing and process automation, power and energy, and building and home control.
9. ON Semiconductor was ranked ninth in 2017, driven by manufacturing and process automation, including machine vision, power and energy, building automation and hearing aids and other medical devices.
10. NXP ranked tenth in the industrial market, with its strong presence in manufacturing and process automation, building and home control, medical electronics and other industrial applications.

Although not part of the top 10 ranking, China’s massive investments in LED manufacturing were especially noteworthy. Chinese firm MLS rose from 18th to 13^th place, after posting 50 percent revenue growth and reaching $1 billion in 2017. MLS beat out other leading general lighting LEDs suppliers Nichia, Osram and Cree.