IMS Research latest forecast update for the global power management and driver IC market predicts a fall in revenues of around 3% in 2009, owing mainly to the current slowdown in consumer spending.
After a healthy growth year in 2008 with total revenues reaching almost $13 billion, the market for power management and driver ICs is forecast to fall by nearly $400 million in 2009. It is anticipated that the sectors worst hit will be automotive, portable consumer and desktop PCs with an average decline of around 10%.
Analyst Ryan Sanderson from IMS Research s power and energy division commented, The power IC market is fairly resilient due to the emphasis placed on greater power efficiency within many applications. This tends to demand a higher quality IC with a higher average selling price and hence drives market growth. However, with automotive and portable consumer applications being two of the largest markets for power ICs, it is inevitable that revenues will suffer as consumer spending slows. In the mid-term we expect the market to remain strong with a steady recovery in 2010 and growth of around 10% for 2011 and 2012.
IMS Research's analysis showed that the top five suppliers in the power management and driver ICs market are Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies, National Semiconductor, Maxim Integrated Products and Linear Technology. Collectively they are estimated to account for almost 40% of the total market.
