Combined sales generated by fabless IC companies worldwide increased 6% in 2012, while those by IDMs decreased 4% on year, according to a recent IC Insights report. Overall revenues generated by the global semiconductor market saw a 2% decline in 2012.
Fabless IC companies have outperformed IDMs every year since 1999, except for 2010, IC Insights said. In 2010, IDMs as a group enjoyed a sales rise of 34% while fabless firms had growth of 29%. The memory market, which very few fabless firms participate in, boomed in 2010, IC Insights added.
Fabless IC companies represented 27.1% of the global semiconductor market in 2012, reaching their highest level in history, IC Insights said. In 1999-2012, fabless firms' revenues have been growing at a 16% CAGR, while IDMs have grown a modest 5%, IC Insights indicated.
IC Insights forecast that in 2017, fabless IC companies will have 'at least' 33% of the global semiconductor market. More companies are expected to become fabless over the next five years, such as IDT, LSI Logic, Agere and AMD, IC Insights said.
"Over the long-term, IC Insights believes that fabless IC suppliers, and the IC foundries that serve them, will continue to become a stronger force in the total IC industry," the research firm noted.
Source: IC Insights, compiled by Digitimes, January 2013
Source: IC Insights, compiled by Digitimes, January 2013
Source: IC Insights, compiled by Digitimes, January 2013
