The semiconductor market generated revenue of over US$120 billion in the third quarter of 2020, up 10.8% sequentially, according to Omdia.
The semiconductor industry has benefited from the coronavirus pandemic, said Omdia. Working and learning from home continued to be extended in the third quarter of 2020 as the pandemic persists, increasing demand for devices and infrastructure to support this while the semiconductor market entered its seasonal high demand period. The combined result was a banner quarter for many semiconductor firms, the research firm noted.
The semiconductor market revenue during the third quarter of 2020 achieved the highest since third-quarter 2018 and the second highest mark overall since Omdia began tracking semiconductor revenue in 2002.
Compared to a year earlier, the market revenue during the third quarter of 2020 represented a 10.4% increase, Omdia indicated.
Strong semiconductor growth occurred across all major semiconductor application markets, but the wireless and consumer categories were out front driving this growth, Omdia noted.
The wireless segment, representing 30% of all semiconductor market revenue, grew 18.7% on quarter and 12.7% from a year earlier in the third quarter of 2020, Omdia disclosed. The increasing availability of 5G smartphones and further 5G infrastructure buildout helped spur demand in this segment. Leading component makers in this field Qualcomm, Samsung, and SK Hynix all experienced double-digit growth in wireless revenue.
The consumer segment also experienced strong growth, rising 25% sequentially in the third quarter of 2020, led by the release of next-generation video game consoles and entering the strong seasonal period, Omdia said. While third-quarter 2020 was a remarkable quarter for the consumer segment, it is worth noting that it accounts for a smaller share of the overall semiconductor market. Consumer-related semiconductor revenue accounted for just under 10% of all semiconductor revenue in the third quarter of 2020.
The top-10 semiconductor companies remained largely stable, according to Omdia. The top four (with memory chip makers accounting for three of them) of Intel, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron remain unchanged from the previous quarter's rankings. Qualcomm rose one spot from sixth to fifth, while MediaTek climbed from 12th to 9th on revenue increasing over 50% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, HiSilicon dropped two spots in the rankings as MediaTek jumped over.
