Category Archives: Metrology

The ten largest semiconductor R&D spenders increased their collective expenditures to $35.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 6% compared to $34.0 billion in 2016. Intel continued to far exceed all other semiconductor companies with R&D spending that reached $13.1 billion.  In addition to representing 21.2% of its semiconductor sales last year, Intel’s R&D spending accounted for 36% of the top 10 R&D spending and about 22% of total worldwide semiconductor R&D expenditures of $58.9 billion in 2017, according to the 2018 edition of The McClean Report that was released in January 2018.  Figure 1 shows IC Insights’ ranking of the top semiconductor R&D spenders, including both semiconductor manufacturers and fabless suppliers.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Intel’s R&D expenditures increased just 3% in 2017, below its 8% average annual growth rate since 2001, according to the new report.  Still, Intel’s R&D spending exceeded the combined R&D spending of the next four companies—Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung, and Toshiba—listed in the ranking.

Underscoring the growing cost of developing new IC technologies, Intel’s R&D-to-sales ratio has climbed significantly over the past 20 years.  In 2017, Intel’s R&D spending as a percent of sales was 21.2%, down from an all-time high of 24.0% in 2015.  In 2010, the ratio was 16.4%, 14.5% in 2005, 16.0% in 2000, and just 9.3% in 1995.

Qualcomm—the industry’s largest fabless IC supplier—was again ranked as second-largest R&D spender, a position it first achieved in 2012.  Qualcomm’s semiconductor-related R&D spending was down 4% in 2017, after a 7% drop in 2016, and it was close to being passed up by third place Broadcom and fourth placed Samsung, whose R&D spending increased 4% and 19%, respectively.

Despite increasing its R&D expenditures by 19% in 2017, Samsung had the lowest investment-intensity level among the top-10 R&D spenders with research and development funding at 5.2% of sales last year.  Samsung’s 49% increase in semiconductor revenue in 2017 (driven by strong growth in DRAM and NAND flash memory) lowered its R&D as a percent of sales ratio from 6.5% in 2016.  Micron Technology’s revenues surged 77% in 2017, but its research and development expenditures grew 8%, resulting in an R&D/sales ratio of 7.5% compared to 12.5% in 2016.  Similarly, SK Hynix’s sales climbed 79% in 2017, while its research and development spending increased 14% in the year, which resulted in an R&D/sakes ratio of 6.5% versus 10.2% in 2016.

Fifth-ranked Toshiba and sixth-ranked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) each allocated about the same amount for R&D spending in 2017.  Toshiba’s R&D spending was down 7% while TSMC had one of the largest increases in R&D spending among the top 10 companies shown in the figure. TSMC’s R&D expenditures grew by 20% as the foundry raced rivals Samsung and GlobalFoundries in launching new process technologies, while its sales rose 9% to $32.2 billion in the year.

Rounding out the top-10 list were MediaTek, Micron, Nvidia, which moved from 11th place in 2016 to 9th position to displace NXP in the 2017 ranking, and SK Hynix.  Collectively, the top-10 R&D spenders increased their outlays by 6% in 2017, two points more than the 4% R&D increase for the entire semiconductor industry.  Combined R&D spending by the top 10 exceeded total spending by the rest of the semiconductor companies ($35.9 billion versus $23.0 billion) in 2017.

A total of 18 semiconductor suppliers allocated more than more than $1.0 billion for R&D spending 2017.  The other eight manufacturers were NXP, TI ST, AMD, Renesas, Sony, Analog Devices, and GlobalFoundries.

The latest market research report by Technavio on the global semiconductor IP market predicts a CAGR of close to 10% during the period 2018-2022.

The report segments the global semiconductor IP market by application (healthcare, networking, industrial automation, automotive, consumer electronics, and mobile computing devices), by end-user (fabless semiconductor companies, IDMs, and foundries), and by geography (North America, APAC, and Europe). It provides a detailed illustration of the major factors influencing the market, including drivers, opportunities, trends, and industry-specific challenges.

Here are some key findings of the global semiconductor IP market, according to Technavio hardware and semiconductor researchers:

  • Complex chip designs and use of multi-core technologies: a major market driver
  • Proliferation of wireless technologies: emerging market trend
  • North America dominated the global semiconductor IP market with 47% share in 2016

Complex chip designs and use of multi-core technologies: a major market driver

Nowadays, the electronic device manufacturers develop products that have better functionalities while offering power-packed performances as compared to their earlier products. This is driving the semiconductor chip manufacturers to ensure that their IC designs are capable of and reliable for offer maximum use in terms of performance, which is propelling the product development process in the semiconductor industry.

Players in the market are competing against each other based on timely delivery of offerings while ensuring high performing and multi-functional devices. Semiconductor manufacturers are incorporating new and complex architecture and designs of semiconductor ICs to deliver high-end multi-functional products. For example, 3D ICs are compact, consume less power, and are more efficient in performance. They have a complex electronic circuit design and manufacturing process. Such complexity tends to hamper the overall productivity of the industry.

 

Proliferation of wireless technologies: emerging market trend

In the last 25 years, IoT has evolved a great deal. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) that was in the development phase since 1990 is replacing Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). This allows many hosts to connect to the Internet and increases the data traffic that can be transmitted.

The popularity of mobile computing devices has helped the network traffic to grow at an exponential rate. This led to the continued deployment of next-generation wireless standards such as 4G and 5G, and wireless technologies such as Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, ZigBee, and Z-Wave across the globe. Such wireless standards and wireless technologies offer a wireless connection that is equivalent to broadband connections that have resulted in an increase in the number of users accessing the Internet from anywhere and at any time.

According to a senior analyst at Technavio for research on semiconductor equipment, “At present, ZigBee is one of the three leading wireless technology used for connected devices such as connected bulbs, remote controls, smart meters, smart thermostats, and set-top boxes. High-bandwidth and content-rich applications such as audio, video, gaming, and Internet use the Wi-Fi technology. BLE is used for low power applications and is primarily used to connect wearables to smartphones. ZigBee is a low power version of Wi-Fi which is appropriate for smart home applications such as lighting, remote controls, security, and thermostats.”

Global market opportunities

In terms of regional dominance, North America led the global semiconductor IP market, followed by APAC and Europe in 2017. However, APAC is expected to grow at a faster rate due to increased prevalence of orthopedic surgical procedures. The emerging economies like China and Taiwan contributed to the growth of this market in APAC.

The market share of North America is expected to decrease during the forecast period due to factors such as strong governmental policies against exports from the governments of South Korea, Japan, China, and India, who want to become completely self-sufficient in the semiconductor industry.

 

By Cherry Sun, SEMI China

Yawning differences between cultures, economic systems and rules of law stand as barriers for many China- and US-based technology companies to do business on each other’s soil, making it imperative for both countries to work together to bridge the gaps that make it harder for tech businesses in each country to find partners and open markets in the other, SEMI China president Lung Chu said at a recent conference.

One answer is for SEMI, serving as a natural unifying communications platform, to help foster greater cooperation between US and China tech companies, Lung Chu said, speaking at the 2nd Silicon Valley Beijing International IoT Summit & Investment and Financing Competition in Santa Clara last month. The event gathered industry experts and experts to mine opportunities across technologies including smart and mobile medical care, virtual and augmented reality, wearables, smart homes, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 3D printing, Internet of Things (IoT) and manufacturing design.

In the IoT roundtable chaired by Chu, he asked mayors and other city officials from Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Cupertino to consider the potential of IoT technology for improving city management. Inspired by the idea of greater efficiency, the mayors pointed to IoT applications including traffic management to better regulate traffic flow; faster, more effective medical treatment from first responders and emergency medical technicians; more efficient energy usage by cities and the public; better water resources management; and bicycle sharing programs for commuters.

Deploying more advanced networking architectures, the mayors agreed, is the first step for cities seeking to fulfill the promise of IoT. A recognized global leader in smart city technologies, China is much more than a key trade partner with the U.S., having developed IoT use cases for cities in Silicon Valley and beyond to consider.

Chu also asked the mayors about the importance to their cities of attracting talent and encouraging entrepreneurship. The roundtable agreed that in Silicon Valley, taking risks in hopes of reaping huge profits is prized and that failure is embraced as necessary to innovation. In China, pressure on business startups to flourish can inhibit the free-wheeling thinking and calculated risk-taking often needed to build new enterprises.

On talent, one mayor underscored the importance of diversity in building a skilled workforce. According to a recent report based on 2016 census data, nearly three-quarters – about 71 percent of tech employees in Silicon Valley – “are foreign born, compared to around 50 percent in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward region,” The Mercury News reported. Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, has noted that this “diversity is the strength of Silicon Valley.”

Much as China can turn to Silicon Valley as a model of entrepreneurship and diversity, the U.S. can learn from China’s deployment of IoT technologies to power smart cities as the country’s prominence in the semiconductor manufacturing industry continues to grow. An ally in that rising influence, SEMI China follows the 5C principles – Connect, Collaboration, Community, Communication, China – to help narrow the differences between China and other countries and foster stronger partnerships.

Originally published on the SEMI blog.

Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: ORBK) today announced that SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech company and a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor and related industries, has received approximately $37M in orders for multiple etch and deposition systems from two GaAs foundry customers. SPTS’s Omega plasma etch, Delta PECVD, and Sigma PVD systems will be used to manufacture radio frequency (RF) devices for 4G and emerging 5G wireless infrastructure and mobile device markets. Delivery of the systems is expected to be split between the first quarter and second quarter of 2018.

“Compound semiconductor electronic devices based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) are the cornerstone of high speed wireless communications,” stated Kevin Crofton, Corporate Executive Vice President at Orbotech and President of SPTS Technologies. “RF devices are entering another exciting phase of growth with the proliferation of 4G mobile communications and preparation for 5G. IDMs and foundries are looking to add capacity to existing fabs to meet the growing demand, while new entrants are establishing new lines to address future demand for the 5G rollout. Our lead customer has been at the forefront of GaAs foundry services for almost two decades, and their repeat orders are a testament to the production advantages that our etch and deposition solutions continue to deliver to their core business.”

Power amplifiers (PAs) are among the most critical RF components in mobile communications and virtually all PAs in a modern smartphone are made from circuits built on GaAs semiconductors. Analysts[1] are predicting that the growth of 4G communications, gigabit LTE (Long Term Evolution) and emerging 5G will be the growth engine to drive the RF GaAs device market from over $8.1 billion in 2017 to over $9 billion by 2021.

“Our latest forecast[1] shows that PAs for cellular applications will continue to account for more than half of the RF GaAs device market,” noted Eric Higham, Director of the Advanced Semiconductor Applications service at Strategy Analytics. He added, “Despite smartphone growth slowing, the added complexity in mobile devices to support gigabit LTE and the emergence of 5G points to continuing growth in RF GaAs production.”

Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR) today announced that Doug Alexander and MaryFrances McCourt have been appointed as new members of the Company’s Board of Directors. With these appointments, Amkor’s Board has been expanded to twelve members.

“We are pleased to have Doug and MaryFrances join Amkor’s Board,” said James Kim, Amkor’s Executive Chairman. “The demonstrated leadership skills and breadth of experience that they each bring to the Board will be great assets to the Company.”

Mr. Alexander was an original member of the advisory board of Actua Corporation (formerly named ICG Group, Inc.), a multi-vertical cloud technology company. Mr. Alexander joined Actua full-time in September 1997 as Managing Director and was appointed President in January 2009 where he served until December 2017. During his tenure at Actua, Mr. Alexander served in many senior management roles including as CEO of WiseWire Technologies, which was acquired by Lycos; CEO of ICG Europe; CEO of Traffic.com, which was acquired by Navteq; and CEO of Channel Intelligence, which was acquired by Google.

Mr. Alexander has served on the boards of directors for GovDelivery, Procurian, and Bolt. Mr. Alexander has also served as the Co-Chairman of the Philadelphia National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and is Chairman of the Management & Technology Executive Board at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Alexander holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. McCourt is Vice President for Finance and Treasurer at the University of Pennsylvania. In her role, Ms. McCourt leads Penn’s cash and short-term investment and capital financing strategies as well as oversees Penn’s financial functions. Ms. McCourt is responsible for the University’s multi-year financial planning efforts and collaborates closely with Penn Medicine leadership on its growth and financial planning. She directly manages the strategic and operational direction of a variety of functions, including the Comptrollers Office, financial training, global support services, research services, risk management and insurance, student registration and financial services and the Treasurer’s Office.

Prior to joining Penn, Ms. McCourt was the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Indiana University. Ms. McCourt has also served in financial-management positions for Agilysis, Inc., a diversified enterprise focused on technology and enterprise system solutions.

She earned her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Duke University and an MBA from Case Western University.

 

Two Waterloo chemists have made it easier for manufacturers to produce a new class of faster and cheaper semiconductors.

The chemists have found a way to simultaneously control the orientation and select the size of single-walled carbon nanotubes deposited on a surface. That means the developers of semiconductors can use carbon as opposed to silicon, which will reduce the size and increase the speed of the devices while improving their battery life.

“We’re reaching the limits of what’s physically possible with silicon-based devices,” said co-author Derek Schipper, Canada Research Chair Organic Material Synthesis at the University of Waterloo. “Not only would single-walled carbon nanotube-based electronics be more powerful, they would also consume less power.”

The process, called the Alignment Relay Technique, relies on liquid crystals to pass orientation information to a metal-oxide surface. Small molecules called iptycenes then bond to the surface locking the orientation pattern into place. Their structure includes a small pocket large enough to fit a certain size carbon nanotube that remains after washing.

“This is the first time chemists have been able to externally control the orientation of small molecules covalently bonded to a surface,” said Schipper, a professor of chemistry and a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology. “We’re not the first ones to come up with potential solutions to work with carbon nanotubes. But this is the only one that tackles both orientation and purity challenges at the same time.”

Schipper further pointed out that the approach is from the bottom up with the use of organic chemistry to design and build a molecule which then does the hard work.

“Once you’ve built the pieces, the process is simple. It’s a bench-top method requiring no special equipment,” Schipper explained.

In contrast to self-assembly techniques which rely on the design of a suitable molecule to fit snuggly together, this process can be controlled at every step, including the size of the iptycene “pocket”. In addition, this is the first a solution has been found to tackling the challenge of aligning and purifying carbon nanotubes at the same time.

IC industry wafer capacity, specifically in the memory segment, was inadequate to meet demand throughout 2017. However, with Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Toshiba/WD, and XMC/Yangtze River Storage Technology planning to significantly ramp up 3D NAND flash capacity over the next few years, and Samsung and SK Hynix boosting DRAM capacity this year and next, what does this mean for total industry capacity growth?  In its 2018-2022 Global Wafer Capacity report, IC Insights shows that new manufacturing lines are expected to boost industry capacity 8% in both 2018 and 2019 (Figure 1). From 2017-2022, annual growth in IC industry capacity is forecast to average 6.0% compared to 4.8% average growth from 2012-2017.

annual wafer trends

Figure 1

Large swings in the addition or contraction of wafer capacity by the industry, as a whole, appear to be moderating. Since 2010, annual changes in wafer capacity volume have been in the relatively narrow range of 2-8%, with the largest year-to-year difference being just three percentage points.  This suggests that IC manufacturers are better today than in years past about trying to match supply with demand.  It’s still an incredibly difficult task for companies to gauge how much capacity will be needed to meet demand from customers, especially given the time it takes a company to move from the decision to build a new fab to that fab being ready for mass production.

Many companies, DRAM and NAND flash suppliers in particular, have become much more active with new fab construction and expansion projects at existing fabs.  This surge in activity comes after four years (2014-2017) when capacity growth lagged wafer start volume increases.  During the past few years, IC producers have worked to increase utilization rates from the low levels in 2012-2013.

If all the new fab capacity expected to be brought on-line in 2019 happens as planned, the volume of capacity added that year will approach the record set in 2007.  Figure 2 shows more that 18 million wafers per year of new capacity is expected to be added in 2019, and this number even assumes some of the massive DRAM and NAND fabs being built by Chinese companies will not be carried out quite as aggressively as has been advertised.  IC Insights believes that construction of these China-owned fabs is progressing slower than planned.

Figure 2

Figure 2

By Heidi Hoffman, SEMI

SEMI continues to transform to increase its impact on the success of the electronics industry supply chain. As one step in that process, SEMI President & CEO Ajit Manocha has formed a new group, Technology Communities, to better collaborate, align, and enhance all of SEMI’s technology-focused activities by operating them under one umbrella. The group is led by industry-veteran Mike Ciesinski, the new vice president of Technology Communities. Mike has more than 20 years’ experience creating and managing industry consortia and a strong record of fostering collaboration among industry, academia, and government research and development (R&D) agencies.

The charter of Technology Communities is to share best practices for SEMI’s special interest groups (SIGs), including hosting industry-wide CTO forums; providing regional insights; forming member, industry and academic consortia; and engaging with technology thought-leaders. The goal is to elevate the prominence of electronics technology in an effort to improve lives and enhance member profitability by speeding industry collaboration and opportunities for innovation.

SEMI SIGs serve as member groups that share information, explore common opportunities in a synergistic and non-competitive environment and provide a collective voice on issues within the global electronics industry. By segmenting the sprawling electronics supply chain into focused communities, SIGs foster more effective technical discussions and provide exclusive networking and speaking opportunities.

The Technology Communities encompasses Fab Owners Alliance (FOA), FlexTech, and MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), as well as the SEMI Standards organization.  It supports key SEMI market verticals including Smart Manufacturing, Smart Data, and Smart MedTech.

Technology Communities also includes the Chemical & Gases Manufacturers Group (CGMG), the Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG), the Collaborative Alliance for Semiconductor Test (CAST), Semiconductor Components, Instruments and Subsystems (SCIS), the Strategic Innovation Platforms (SIP) and the Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap. Each one of these communities has a unique and focused mission.

For SEMI’s members, these groups mean more opportunities to meet with peers and customers and help to define industry direction.

Members can be confident that SEMI technology SIGs are led by experienced industry professionals with extensive networks and a strong technical knowledge in their respective areas. Alongside Ciesinski, SEMI veteran Tom Salmon leads FOA, while James Amano directs SEMI Standards. Melissa Grupen-Shemansky, PhD, is the new FlexTech leader and CTO, while Frank Shemansky, Jr., PhD, is the MEMS and sensors CTO and oversees the MSIG group.

The HQ team is joined by experienced, knowledgeable professionals in each of SEMI’s seven regions to provide a global network and cross-region collaboration.

It’s easy to get involved and the SEMI groups are always seeking new members and industry drivers. Visit SEMI Special Interest Groups for more details on SEMI’s special interest groups. We will also be bringing you more in-depth articles on each of the technology groups in SGU.

Most of the groups and committees are available to any SEMI member in good standing – simply request to join.  Come to one of our upcoming events – such as 2018FLEX and MSTC2018 — to discuss opportunities to participate.

By Jamie Girard and Jay Chittooran, SEMI Public Policy

With much pride, President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address last week, touted the signature legislative achievement of his first year in office – passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  As companies doing business globally, SEMI members have long stressed their concern that the US business tax code was putting them at a disadvantage.  SEMI has worked for many years to voice its position that the US code needed to be reformed to lower the overall tax rate on businesses while also retaining incentives for innovation, like the research and development (R&D) and tax credits.  SEMI also pushed for the US to move to a territorial tax system to bring the US into alignment with the rest of the world.

President Donald Trump, State of the Union speech. Photo credit: CNN

President Donald Trump, State of the Union speech. Photo credit: CNN

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act implements all the of principle that SEMI members have advocated for, and included other industry priorities like repatriation of foreign held assets at a lower rate.  The new structure promises to allow for a more competitive business environment for companies doing business from the US, and greater growth for them globally.

“As tax cuts create new jobs, let us invest in workforce development and job training,” Trump noted in his State of the Union speech, addressing another major industry priority. “Let us open great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential.”

Workforce development (Talent) is a critical issue for the industry, and SEMI recognizes the pressing need on multiple fronts to find the workers, both technical and highly-educated, to continue the work of driving innovation in the semiconductor industry.  While SEMI works with industry partners to boost the industry talent pool, we also recognize that the federal government has a role to play in ensuring that the US is doing its share to help address the problem. That’s why SEMI supports legislation like H.R. 4023, the Developing Tomorrow’s Engineering and Technical Workforce Act, aimed at providing federal dollars to promote engineering education at all levels of learning. The bill has bipartisan support in Congress, and SEMI will continue to work to see the bill travel to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

Facilitating trade and lowering barriers for good and services to move across borders is key to SEMI’s mission to support its members. The semiconductor industry has catalyzed growth across the global economy – growth that relies heavily on trade.

“America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our nation’s wealth,” Trump noted last Tuesday. “The era of economic surrender is over. From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones.”

Unfortunately, trade has been turned into a hot-button political issue, raising many new trade challenges to companies throughout the semiconductor industry. The Trump Administration has levied intense criticism of China, launched a number of trade investigations citing foreign overproduction, and has threatened to withdraw from the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). The United States has also levied tariffs on a number of products, including solar cells. This is all on top of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) modernization talks, which have seen slow and shallow progress.

While the United States “reexamines” and stands still, other countries are filling the leadership void. China, Canada, Korea, and the European Union, among others, are negotiating or have concluded trade deals in the last year. Indeed, the updated Trans-Pacific Partnership, which now excludes the US but covers many of the fastest-growing Asian markets, is on track to be enacted by the end of the year. SEMI will continue to work on behalf of its members around the globe to open up new markets and lessen the burden of regulations on cross-border trade and commerce.

Additionally, although President Trump devoted much his address to immigration, he overlooked the opportunity to address the need for immigration reform for high-skilled workers.  This important aspect of the immigration debate, which also has major implications for economic growth, will fall to Congress to sort out in any immigration package it considers in the coming weeks.

Fortunately, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently reintroduced his Immigration Innovation Act, also known as “I-Squared,” which would implement a number of reforms to the H1-B visa and green card system for highly-skilled workers.  The bill would raise the cap for H1-B visas from the current 65,000 to allow for as many as 190,000 in good economic times, while also lifting the cap on greed card holders with STEM degrees from US institutions.  SEMI has long supported these efforts and will continue to work with policymakers to see reforms implemented to improve the system.

While partisanship in Washington remains high, SEMI continues to work on behalf of its members to advance crucial public policy matters for its members with policymakers in Washington, DC. In particular, SEMI focuses on how these issues impact the four 4T’s – Trade, Taxes, Technology and Talent. The path forward on many of these issues will be complicated by midterm election year politics, but the opportunity remains to see real positive changes enacted, even in such a challenging environment.

If you’d like more information on SEMI’s public policy work, or how you can be involved, please contact Jamie Girard at [email protected].

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced the global semiconductor industry posted sales totaling $412.2 billion in 2017, the industry’s highest-ever annual sales and an increase of 21.6 percent compared to the 2016 total. Global sales for the month of December 2017 reached $38.0 billion, an increase of 22.5 percent over the December 2016 total and 0.8 percent more than the previous month’s total. Fourth-quarter sales of $114.0 billion were 22.5 percent higher than the total from the fourth quarter of 2016 and 5.7 percent more than the third quarter of 2017. Global sales during the fourth quarter of 2017 and during December 2017 were the industry’s highest-ever quarterly and monthly sales, respectively. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues, year-to-year percent change

Worldwide semiconductor revenues, year-to-year percent change

“As semiconductors have become more heavily embedded in an ever-increasing number of products – from cars to coffee makers – and nascent technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the Internet of Things have emerged, global demand for semiconductors has increased, leading to landmark sales in 2017 and a bright outlook for the long term,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The global market experienced across-the-board growth in 2017, with double-digit sales increases in every regional market and nearly all major product categories. We expect the market to grow more modestly in 2018.”

Several semiconductor product segments stood out in 2017. Memory was the largest semiconductor category by sales with $124.0 billion in 2017, and the fastest growing, with sales increasing 61.5 percent. Within the memory category, sales of DRAM products increased 76.8 percent and sales of NAND flash products increased 47.5 percent. Logic ($102.2 billion) and micro-ICs ($63.9 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three product categories in terms of total sales. Other fast-growing product categories in 2017 included rectifiers (18.3 percent), diodes (16.4 percent), and sensors and actuators (16.2 percent). Even without sales of memory products, sales of all other products combined increased by nearly 10 percent in 2017.

Annual sales increased substantially across all regions: the Americas (35.0 percent), China (22.2 percent), Europe (17.1 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (16.4 percent), and Japan (13.3 percent). The Americas market also led the way in growth for the month of December 2017, with sales up 41.4 percent year-to-year and 2.1 percent month-to-month. Next were Europe (20.2 percent/-1.6 percent), China (18.1 percent/1.0 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (17.4 percent/0.2 percent), and Japan (14.0 percent/0.9 percent).

“A strong semiconductor industry is foundational to America’s economic strength, national security, and global technology leadership,” said Neuffer. “We urge Congress and the Trump Administration to enact polices in 2018 that promote U.S. innovation and allow American businesses to compete on a more level playing field with our counterparts overseas. We look forward to working with policymakers in the year ahead to further strengthen the semiconductor industry, the broader tech sector, and our economy.”