Mixed Signal and IoT Driving ASIC Design Starts Growth

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Steady demand in existing end markets and growth from new end applications are pushing ASIC design activity to new levels. This increase in growth is based on very good growth in the Mixed Signal ASIC market and in the Basic SoC market. The Basic SoC market is being driven by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the need for silicon solutions for this segment. Mixed Signal ASIC designs have been growing for the last few years as more systems seek to interface to analog 'real world' functions. According to a new Semico Research report ASIC Design Starts for 2016 by Key End Market Applications (SC106-16, March 2016), the total ASIC design start market is expected to grow 5.0% in 2016 on top of a 4.5% growth rate in 2015.
 
"Increases in ASIC design start activity are key to the improving health of the semiconductor market going forward," said Rich Wawrzyniak, Principal Analyst for ASIC and SoC at Semico Research Corp.  "The steady increase in unit volumes in many end markets also has a positive impact on design start activity and provides great support for the 3rd Party IP market as well. A growing proportion of new growth is coming from IoT-type applications as more traditional end applications are seeing some slowness."
 
Key findings of the report include:

• Advanced Performance Multicore SoCs will grow 4.6% in 2016
• 1st time SoC design efforts increase over the forecast period
• Basic SoC design starts have the highest CAGR at 11.7% from 2015 - 2020
• Unit shipments for Industrial applications lead the industry in CAGR followed by Consumer, Communications, Automotive/Transportation and Computer

About Semico

Semico is a semiconductor marketing & consulting research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Semico was founded in 1994 by a group of semiconductor industry experts. We have improved the validity of semiconductor product forecasts via technology roadmaps in end-use markets.