The top-20 semiconductor companies' sales are forecast to increase by 3% in 2016, according to IC Insights. Among them, five companies are forecast to enjoy double-digit sales growth in 2016 while four are expected to experience double-digit decreases.

The fastest growing top-20 company in 2016 is forecast to be US-based Nvidia, which is expected to post a 35% on-year increase in sales, said IC Insights. The company is riding a surge of demand for its GPUs and Tegra processors in its latest quarter ended October 30, 2016.

The second-fastest growing top-20 company in 2016 is expected to be Taiwan-based MediaTek, which is forecast to post a 29% increase in sales, IC Insights indicated. Although worldwide smartphone unit volume sales are expected to increase by only 4% in 2016, MediaTek's application processor shipments to fast-growing China-based smartphone suppliers, such as Oppo and Vivo, are forecast to help drive its 2016 increase.

Apple, Toshiba and TSMC are the other semiconductor companies that will see their 2016 sales register double-digit increases, IC Insights noted.

Nine of the top-20 companies are forecast to have sales of at least US$10 billion in 2016, and it is expected to take about US$4.5 billion in sales just to make it into the top-20 semiconductor supplier list, IC Insights said. Moreover, if Qualcomm's purchase of NXP is completed, as is expected in late 2017, the combined annual semiconductor sales of these two companies will likely be over US$25 billion going forward, IC Insights indicated.

Intel is forecast to remain firmly in control of the number one spot in the top-20 ranking in 2016, IC Insights said. In fact, Intel is expected to increase its lead over Samsung's semiconductor sales from 24% in 2015 to 29% in 2016. The biggest upward move in the ranking is forecast to be made by Apple, which is expected to jump up three positions in the 2016 ranking as compared to 2015. Other companies that are forecast to make noticeable moves up the ranking include MediaTek and Nvidia, with each company expected to improve by two positions.

Apple is an anomaly in the top-20 ranking with regards to major semiconductor suppliers. The company designs and uses its processors only in its own products – there are no sales of the company's MPUs to other system makers. IC Insights estimated that Apple's custom ARM-based SoC processors will have a "sales value" of US$6.5 billion in 2016, which will place it in the 14th position in the forecast top-20 ranking.

Given the possible acquisitions and mergers that could/will occur over the next few years (e.g., Qualcomm and NXP), the top-20 ranking is likely to undergo a significant amount of upheaval as the semiconductor industry continues along its path to maturity, IC Insights believes.

By: DocMemory
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