Renesas remained the leader in the automotive semiconductor race in 2013, with the company's dominance in micro-components and logic integrated circuits (IC) helping it to hold a half-billion-dollar gap over the second-place competitor.
Japan-based Renesas posted automotive semiconductor revenue of $2.9 billion last year, giving the company a market share of 11 percent, according to IHS Technology. This compares to $2.4 billion in revenue and 9 percent share for the No. 2 contender, Infineon of Germany, allowing Renesas to maintain the leading position it held in 2012.
Although the IHS ranking shows Renesas experienced a 14 percent decline in revenue for the year, the drop was entirely driven by a fluctuation in the exchange rate between the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar. When measured in terms of its native yen, Renesas' automotive semiconductor revenue actually rose by about 5 percent in 2013 compared to 2012.
"Renesas has built hegemony in automotive semiconductors based on its leadership position in major product categories within the market," said Luca DeAmbroggi, principal analyst for automotive semiconductors at IHS. "The company in 2012 was the top supplier in the micro-component and logic ICs categories with market share of 37 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Renesas is also ahead of the pack in the automotive infotainment domain with a market share of 11 percent."
The company's domination in the micro-component area is attributed to its massive share of the key automotive microcontroller business. Renesas accounted for 40 percent of the automotive microcontroller business in 2013, far ahead of No. 2 Freescale Semiconductor at 22 percent.