Thomas Alsop
Research expert covering the global hardware industry
Semiconductors - statistics & facts
Governments and companies across the entire semiconductor value chain have had to navigate changing demands, supply chain imbalances, and geopolitical factors in recent times. As a result, action plans and policies have had to be established to safeguard the supply of semiconductors. In 2023, global semiconductor sales reached 520 billion U.S. dollars, a fall compared to the last year as a result of a deteriorating global economy and weakening demand from consumer-driven markets.
Semiconductor market opportunities are vast and impact a range of sectors
Smartphones represent an important market for the semiconductor industry, especially as these devices become more advanced and able to support 5G, artificial intelligence, and immersive technology applications. In 2023, semiconductors for smartphones accounted for around 20 percent of industry revenue, with a further 17 percent of the semiconductor market assigned to other personal computing devices. Servers and data centers are set to become an even more important opportunity, with GPUs being deployed for hardware accelerations, as well as the training and running of generative AI applications such as ChatGPT. Finally, industrial and automotive applications are also expected to experience increased demand: as manufacturing facilities and vehicles become smarter and ever more connected, the requirement for more advanced semiconductor technology to fulfill these tasks grows.The supply chain includes a range of design and manufacturing companies
Some of the biggest companies within the semiconductor industry include integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) like Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. The American company Intel held the greatest share of the semiconductor market, generating more than 48 billion U.S. dollars in semiconductor revenue in 2023. Other notable firms within the global semiconductor industry include fabless companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Broadcom, the likes of which work closely with foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) - the world's largest foundry - who manufacture chips in their fabrication plants (fabs). Other key parts of the semiconductor supply chain include electronic design automation (EDA) companies such as Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys which provide essential software and services for chip design, as well as semiconductor manufacturing equipment specialists like ASML and Applied Materials.
