KUALA LUMPUR (March 28): Despite a cyclical market downturn that took hold during the second half of 2022, global semiconductor sales reached an all-time high of US$574 billion (RM2.54 trillion) for the year, an increase of 3.3% over 2021 sales, according to the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

In a blog post on Monday (March 27), SIA director, industry statistics and economic policy, Robert Casanova said newly released data on 2022 semiconductor sales by broad product category, known as “end use”, reveal which types of products saw the largest sales increases in 2022.

He said that historically, the PC/computer and communication end markets have accounted for approximately two-thirds of overall sales, with sectors such as automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics accounting for the remainder.

“But sales by end-market in 2022 showed a marked shift, according to the 2022 Semiconductor End-Use Survey from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation.

“While the PC/computer and communication end markets still accounted for the largest share of semiconductor sales in 2022, their lead shrank.

“Meanwhile, the automotive and industrial applications experienced the largest growth for the year,” said Casanova.

He said the growing demand for chips in these industries, the automotive and industrial sectors will represent 14% and 12% of the average growth in chip sales by 2030, respectively, driving demand growth through the decade.

“Despite the current short-term downturn in the global semiconductor market, demand for chips in the long term is expected to show vibrant growth.

“And, to meet this growing demand, our industry has recently committed to expanding manufacturing capacity in the US through private investments of over US$200 billion thus far,” said Casanova.