The expansion of the semiconductor industry is also equivalent to the growth of the analog market. Analog semiconductors, which convert various analog signals such as light, sound, and temperature into digital signals, enjoyed a boom last year, recording a 30% growth, exceeding the 26% growth of the entire IC market. This is because analog semiconductors are needed more than cutting-edge semiconductors in electronic devices, and especially during the paradigm shift to autonomous driving and electric vehicles, the surge in demand for analog semiconductors was an expected process.

According to data released by IC Insights on the 7th, the global analog sales in 2021 reached approximately 74 billion dollars, growing into a market worth 92.85 trillion won in Korean currency.
Among the top 10 companies, three US-based companies, led by Texas Instruments (TI), took the top three spots, and six US companies, including these, made it into the top 10. Three European companies, Infineon, STMicroelectronics (ST), and NXP, made it into the top 10. The other company is Renesas, headquartered in Japan.

Among all companies, Texas Instruments (TI) ranked first with analog sales of $14.1 billion (about 17.7 trillion won) and a market share of 19%. TI's analog sales increased by 29% compared to 2020, showing a sales increase equivalent to the overall analog market growth of 30%.

Analog Devices (ADI) followed in second place. Last year, its analog sales increased 21% to $9.4 billion (KRW 11.8 trillion), and its market share reached 12.7%. Last August, ADI acquired Maxim Integrated for $28 billion to strengthen its analog solutions. ADI's detailed analog sales were 50% for industrial use, 21% for automotive, 15% for communications, and 14% for consumers.

Third place goes to Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), with $5.9 billion in analog sales. Its sales increased 49% last year, the largest increase among the top 10 companies. SWKS focuses on producing handsets, front-end modules for smartphones, power amplifiers, highly integrated SiP and SoC devices for wireless infrastructure, power management chips, precision analog components, and WiFi connectivity modules and ICs. SWKS’s largest customer is Apple, which accounted for 59% of its sales last year.

SWKS acquired the infrastructure and automotive business unit of Silicon Laboratories Inc. for approximately $2.7 billion in July last year to accelerate expansion into electric and hybrid vehicles, industrial motor control, 5G wireless infrastructure, optical data communications, and data centers.

Infineon, ranked 4th, is expanding its presence in the automotive sector with sales of $4.8 billion (about 6 trillion won). It continued to expand the automotive sector, which accounted for 41% of sales in 2020, to record a 44% sales share, up 3%p from the previous year, and accounted for 29% in power and sensor systems, 14% in industrial power control, and 13% in connected security.

ST, ranked fifth, had sales of $3.9 billion (about 4.9 trillion won) and a market share of 5.3%. While it recorded a 20% sales growth rate compared to 2020, it showed a relatively low analog IC sales growth among the top 10 companies.

IC Insights stated, “Last year, the top 10 companies’ analog IC sales amounted to $50.4 billion (about 63 trillion won), accounting for 68% of the total analog market.” The analog market generally grows at a slower pace than the overall IC market, but last year it grew 30%, recording double-digit sales growth in all general-purpose and application-specific analog product segments.
IC Insights projects that the communications sector will account for the largest share of analog IC sales in 2022, at 31.5%, driven by increased shipments of 5G mobile handsets and the deployment of infrastructure to support them. In the communications analog sector, wireless communications are expected to account for 91%.

Power management ICs, which control power usage to lower device temperatures and extend battery life, account for 25.5% of the total market, the second largest market after the communications sector, and are considered essential for battery-operated systems such as smartphones and laptops.

In terms of growth rate, the automotive application sector is expected to record the highest sales increase of up to 17%, and analog IC shipments responding to demand for autonomous and electric vehicles are expected to continue to increase.

Meanwhile, the ranking included sales of general-purpose analog components, mixed-signal analog, and application-specific analog devices with at least 50% analog circuitry. This reflects the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) standard that “if at least 50% of the total die area of the integrated circuits in a device is occupied by analog circuitry, it is classified as analog.”