After a strong recovery in 2010-2011, 2012 was a difficult year for the global semiconductor industry. Due to continuing global economic challenges, annual semiconductor billings in 2012 lagged by US$8 billion or 2.7% behind the record sales of US$300 billion achieved in 2011. The industry is expected to resume growth in 2013 and is well positioned to register a healthy increase over the next five years.
PwC projects an increase in revenues within the automotive sector of the chip industry from US$25.5 billion in 2012 to approximately US$40 billion in 2017. According to PwC experts, the semiconductor content per car is likely to grow from US$315 of total cost in 2012 to US$385 by 2017, whereas the overall cost of electronics in cars is expected to reach 35% by 2017 and even 50% by 2030.
In this report, we examine global and regional trends, but focus most attention on one of the faster growing segments: automotive.