Semiconductor IP News and Trends Blog
Device Complexity Drives Diverse Semiconductor-IP Growth
Two distinct IP functional groups vie for strong growth in the future. Which one will win?
Here is the second part of my interview with Rich Wawrzyniak, Senior ASIC and SoC Market Analyst for Semico Research. Previously, I followed up on a Semico Research report predicting that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the third-party semiconductor-intellectual-property (SIP) market would exceed 19% from 2013 to 2017.–JB
[Blyler] Where is the increase in third-party semiconductor SIP (i.e., analog, digital, interface, etc.)?
[Wawrzyniak] The increase in SIP revenues shown in this just-released Semico Research report on the SIP market is really not limited to any one area. There is strong growth in the following areas: CPU, memory, graphics, analog, interconnect, and security. There is good growth in interface, logic, DSP, chip enhancement, and audio. I make the distinction in the two groups because the first group is growing faster than the second group. This is due to the nature of the systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) being designed for today’s applications.
Mobile devices need connectivity, processing power, and good graphics. All of these factors are increasing in functionality. As the computational resources increase, so too must the resources that support the computational functions. Included in this trend are IP types like graphics, security, and interconnect. All of these types are necessary to support the feature sets and functionality required by device users.
Quarterly Growth Rates by IP Category
| 13 / ’12 | |||||
| Percent Growth | 1Q13 | 2Q13 | 3Q13* | 4Q13* | Growth |
| Memory | 9.5% | 3.2% | 6.0% | 2.7% | 20.3% |
| CPU | 5.3% | 9.6% | 3.7% | 5.0% | 25.5% |
| DSP | 10.1% | 2.8% | 3.2% | 5.8% | 15.6% |
| Graphics | 5.0% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 26.0% |
| Analog | 9.3% | 7.4% | 7.5% | 3.4% | 26.3% |
| Interface | 2.0% | 6.0% | 4.2% | 4.0% | 15.2% |
| Logic | 3.3% | 4.0% | 0.8% | -1.0% | 10.4% |
| Chip Enhancement | 3.9% | -0.3% | 8.3% | 4.6% | 9.8% |
| Interconnect | 9.2% | 6.7% | 5.1% | 6.4% | 27.2% |
| Security | 12.7% | 3.5% | 7.8% | 2.6% | 21.8% |
| Audio | 1.2% | 4.5% | 4.2% | 3.1% | 15.8% |
| Total Percent Growth | 6.2% | 6.0% | 5.2% | 4.5% | 21.1% |
*Forecast Source: Semico Research, 10/13
This table shows what the 2013 quarterly growth rates have been and are expected to be for the balance of the year. The 2013 yearly growth rate is given with a total SIP market growth rate for 2013.
As you can see, the third-party SIP market is doing very well. This trend is reinforced by the gate-complexity growth chart above. That increase in complexity is being facilitated by the use of more and more IP in each SoC silicon solution. Without the use of IP, it is doubtful that these levels of growth in device complexity could reach the levels they are at today or be sustained over the forecast.
Semico believes this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. IP-market growth rates will probably fluctuate somewhat from what is projected. But it is certain that the long-term trend is upward, as more designs use more IP over time.
This entry was posted in General and tagged 3rd party, groups, interface, IP, memory, processor, Rich Wawrzyniak, Semico Research, semiconductor, third party, trends. Bookmark the permalink.
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