Top-ten IC Designers Hurt by US-China Trade Negotiations
June 28, 2019 | TrendForceEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
TrendForce has released its 1Q19 rankings for the top ten IC design companies worldwide by revenue, which showed only MediaTek maintaining a small growth among the top five as Broadcom, Qualcomm, Nvidia and AMD all showed declines. Nvidia declined the most by 24.4% YoY due to unfinished destocking.
TrendForce Senior Analyst CY Yao points out that, although major IC design businesses around the globe performed well in 2018, the US-China trade dispute and the slowing of the overall China Market caused the global market to swing to a rather conservative mood in 2019, leading to less-than-satisfactory performances for many IC design companies in 1Q19.
The reason for Nvidia's declining the most lies in unfinished destocking of its graphics cards for gaming, the revenues from which plunged by 40.9% YoY in 1Q. The datacenter market, which formed another main source of growth, showed the first decline in three years as hyperscale datacenters and businesses gradually reduced procurements for GPUs. Nvidia's 2Q revenue is expected to keep on declining and register a 20% slide YoY.
Broadcom was affected by the US Commerce Department's motion to place Huawei, a Broadcom customer, on the Entity List during the US-China trade dispute, with their semiconductor department registering a YoY revenue fall in 1Q. However, CA Technologies will be contributing to Broadcom's overall revenue after its acquisition by Broadcom. In 2Q, as the US-China trade dispute keeps seeing new heights, revenue is expected to keep on declining by about 7% YoY.
Due to the evident fall in smartphone demand, Qualcomm's smartphone chip shipments have declined by 17.1% YoY in 1Q. And although MediaTek was also affected by the global smartphone market, it managed to post positive growth in 1Q due to the adoption of its products by the likes of OPPO and Xiaomi since last year, and the strides made in the smart home market. The outlook for 2Q shows a discrepancy in revenue due to fluctuating currency conversion rates: Calculations show revenue declining slightly YoY by 1.5% in USD, but growing YoY by about 2% in TWD.
Novatek and Realtek all performed well in 1Q. Despite limited growth momentum for smartphones all over the world, TDDI and AMOLED panels have become the next big thing in this market. As penetration rates climbed, Novatek was able to ride the bandwagon and give a stellar performance, scoring above Realtek and snatching eighth place in revenue rankings. Realtek benefitted from the telecommunications and the display markets, as well as hot market demand for TWS Bluetooth earbuds, and maintained revenue growth in 1Q.
The outlook for the whole 2019 year presents rising tensions between US and China and a slowing global end market. If US-China relations don't smooth down after the G20 summit, they are feared to continue affecting revenue performances of IC design companies worldwide in 2H.
Suggested Items
Meet the Author Podcast: Martyn Gaudion Unpacks the Secrets of High-Speed PCB Design
07/10/2025 | I-Connect007In this special Meet the Author episode of the On the Line with… podcast, Nolan Johnson sits down with Martyn Gaudion, signal integrity expert, managing director of Polar Instruments, and three-time author in I-Connect007’s popular The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to... series.
Showing Some Constraint: Design007 Magazine July 2025
07/10/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamA robust design constraint strategy balances dozens of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we focus on design constraints—the requirements, challenges, and best practices for setting up the right constraint strategy.
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Rein in Your Design Constraints
07/10/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonI remember the long hours spent at the light table, carefully laying down black tape to shape each trace, cutting and aligning pads with surgical precision on sheets of Mylar. I often went home with nicks on my fingers from the X-Acto knives and bits of tape all over me. It was as much an art form as it was an engineering task—tactile and methodical, requiring the patience of a sculptor. A lot has changed in PCB design over the years.
TTCI Joins Printed Circuit Engineering Association to Strengthen Design-to-Test Collaboration and Workforce Development
07/09/2025 | The Test Connection Inc.The Test Connection Inc. (TTCI), a leading provider of electronic test and manufacturing solutions, is proud to announce its membership in the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA), further expanding the company’s efforts to support cross-functional collaboration, industry standards, and technical education in the printed circuit design and manufacturing community.
Bell to Build X-Plane for Phase 2 of DARPA Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane Program
07/09/2025 | Bell Textron Inc.Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has been down-selected for Phase 2 of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane program with the objective to complete design, construction, ground testing and certification of an X-plane demonstrator.