Automotive semiconductor market forecast to grow 5.7% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016

The global automotive semiconductor market grew to approximately $28 billion in 2014, a 7.3% increase from 2013.

According to the “Global and Chinese Automotive Semiconductor Industry Report, 2014-2015”, the market size is forecast to expand to $29.6 billion in 2015, which would be a 5.7% increase from 2014. For 2016 analysts expect the growth rate to drop slightly to 3.7%.

The reason why growth in the market will slow is due to two factors: deflation and lackluster growth in China.

There is significant global deflation, which has caused depreciation of the Japanese yen and euro against the dollar. In addition, the Chinese auto market, the world’s largest, is expected to decline. The auto market in China is forecast to have expanded by a mere 1% in 2015, and may drop as much as 2% in 2016.

There are five automotive semiconductor categories: power semiconductor, sensor semiconductor, processor (main for MCU) semiconductor, ASSP (principally Connectivity and Amplifier) semiconductor, and logic semiconductor.

The semiconductor costs for each unit in the field of traditional automobiles are $320, with power occupying 26% and sensor 16%.

However, for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) the cost jumps up to $690, with power occupying almost 75% in some cases.

For electric vehicles (EVs) this figure increases even more, up to $700, of which power accounts for 55%.

However, the recent plunge in oil prices has affected the HEV/EV market significantly. If oil rebounds back to over $100 a barrel then the automotive semiconductor market is expected to boom.

The market size of automotive sensors in 2015 is forecast to reach approximately $4.7 billion. automotive sensors include CMOS Image Sensor, Pressure, Acceleration, Speed and Position, Magnetic (Hall effect), and Angle. Sensate is the largest auto sensor maker in the world, followed by Bosch, ON Semiconductor, and Infineon.

The market size of automotive processors reached $7 billion in 2015. Renesas is by far the biggest player in the market, with a share of over 40%. Freescale is the second largest player, with 22% market share.