Despite the chip shortage, which continues to hit numerous industries beyond electronics and computing, sale of semiconductors is going to get closer this year 2022 at 430,000 million units. Thus, according to IC Insights, this year a total of 427.7 billion units will be sold, 9.2% more than in 2021, when 22% more than in 2020 were already sold, and an absolute record in terms of chip sales. In total, by 2022, 2.2 times more are expected than those sold in 2010 and no less than 44 times more than those sold in 1980. It is all due to the exponential growth of devices that need chips in recent years.
According to WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics), there are 33 main chip categories, of which only three (SRAM, DSP and Gate Array) are expected to see lower unit sales. The other 30 are going to grow, and of these, there are twelve that are going to register, if everything goes according to forecast, growth rates above the market average. In other words, its sales will grow above 9.2%.
In recent months there have been several reports warning of inventory growth in chip levels, which may be a sign that the demand for semiconductors may begin to register a certain brake, and therefore their sales growth will also slow down. . But many of the major manufacturers believe that if their buyers are stockpiling chips it is because demand for them, and for the devices that make them up, remains strong, which is vital for the industry. (Provigil)
Chip sales will continue to grow for years to come, but their growth is likely to slow as IC Insights predicts that its annual growth rate until 2026 will be 7%. The consultant also anticipates that in some cases, this growth in sales per unit will vary slightly and be between 7% and 8%. In any case, it is a slightly lower growth rate than the historical rate of the last 42 years, of 9.4%. In addition, the sustained growth in chip sales will continue for several more years.
