Mobile Handset Semiconductor Content Market to Approach $82B in 2015

In 2010, the value of semiconductors used across all mobile handsets exceeded $55 billion, and smartphones are poised to drive much of the growth over the next five years. Smartphones are a semiconductor manufacturer's dream come true. These devices contain the latest semiconductor technology, shrunk down to fit in your shirt pocket. It should not come as any surprise that mobile phone semiconductor component revenue will exceed $80 billion in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 10.8 percent, according to In-Stat.

“While most handset component markets are growing in revenue, a few face significant challenges,” says Allen Nogee, Principal Analyst. “For example the baseband semiconductor content of non-smartphones is slowly decreasing, as all costs are being wrung out of non-smartphone chips, and volume increases are not enough to compensate for the loss per device. Bluetooth semiconductor revenue in handsets is another area that is actually shrinking, as the Bluetooth function is integrated with other functions.”

Recent In-Stat research found:
• Over 60 semiconductor companies worldwide produce semiconductor components for mobile phones
• Revenue from smartphone processors—Wi-Fi, GPS, touchscreen controllers, gyros, and pico projectors—will grow much faster than the average.
• Smartphones are expected to make up 45.3% of all handsets shipped by 2015.
• Semiconductor revenue associated with accelerometers and/or gyros will exceed $300 million by 2014.

In-Stat