TI leads analogue IC suppliers with 18% marketshare

IC Insights’ ranking of top analogue IC suppliers for 2015 is shown in Figure 1. Collectively, these 10 companies accounted for 56% of global analogue sales last year, down slightly from 57% in 2014. Among the top suppliers, nine had analogue sales in excess of $1.0bn and five of these had sales in excess of $2.0bn. Only tenth-ranked Renesas fell short of the $1.0bn mark. With a 10% increase, NXP’s analogue sales outperformed the total analogue market by the widest margin.

Figure 1 - leading analogue IC suppliers ($m)

Texas Instruments was again the leading supplier of analogue devices in 2015 with $8.3bn in sales, an 18% marketshare. TI’s analogue sales slightly surpassed the combined revenue of the next three largest analogue suppliers and represented 69% of its total semiconductor revenue last year.

TI has always been a major player in analogue, but beginning in 2009, it doubled down on its long-term efforts to dominate this market segment. That year, TI became the first company to manufacture analogue devices on 300mm equipment. It purchased 300mm manufacturing tools from defunct Qimonda and transferred it to its existing fabs in Texas to build analogue ICs.

In 2010, TI acquired two wafer fabs operated by Spansion in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan, and a fully equipped 200mm fab in Chengdu, China from Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing. Both facilities were converted and immediately put to use making analogue ICs. In April 2011, TI acquired National Semiconductor - its rival in many analogue markets - for $6.5bn.

TI also strengthened its analogue position by transitioning to 300mm manufacturing capacity at its newer RFAB and its older DMOS 6 fabs. Aside from boosting its analogue manufacturing capacity, moving to 300mm wafer helped reduce total production costs by 40%, according to the company.

Other changes seen in the 2015 ranking include Infineon moving up one place to become the second-largest analogue supplier and Skyworks Solutions moving up two spots to #3. ST slipped from #2 in 2014 to #5 in the 2015 ranking following its 13% decline in analogue sales, which it attributed to soft equipment sales (computer, consumer, automotive & industrial) among its primary customers. Collectively, Infineon, NXP and ST - Europe’s three-largest IC suppliers - accounted for 15% analogue marketshare last year.

Skyworks continues to enjoy solid analogue sales due to design wins with smartphones providers around the world. Skyworks Solutions makes analogue and mixed signal semiconductors for Apple, Samsung and other suppliers of mobile devices. Many of Skyworks’ power amplifier components are found in Apple’s iPhone 6 models. It has been estimated that Skyworks supplies $4 worth of content for every iPhone 6 handset.

Although highly focused in mobile markets, Skyworks plans to expand into the automotive, home and wearable markets to develop its presence in applications linked to the IoT. Analogue ICs such as audio amplifiers, op amps and analogue switches are building blocks for creating wearable applications. Skyworks’ wireless technology is used in General Electric healthcare equipment and the company recently sealed a deal to supply high-performance filter solutions to Panasonic.

Analog Devices’ analogue sales grew 2% last year. One of its key analogue ICs is a device that enables 3D/Force Touch, a feature available on the Apple Watch, the latest iPhones and new generations of the iPad, that uses tiny electrodes to distinguish between a light tap and a deep press to trigger contextually specific controls.

IC Insights forecasts the total analogue market to grow 4% this year, reaching $49.1bn and then surpass the $50.0bn mark for the first time in 2017 as analogue sales climb to an expected $51.4bn. From 2015 to 2020, the analogue market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6%, one point higher than the total IC market.