In mid-February, the Washington, DC-based lobby organization of the US semiconductor industry SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) reported record figures for global semiconductor sales and the number of units sold last year: total sales reached USD 556 billion for the first time in 2021. This is a new historic record which, according to the SIA, points to an unbroken strong upswing in the industry in the face of high demand and a tight supply situation. The chipmakers also posted a record number of 1.15 trillion units. In December 2021 alone, chip sales amounted to USD 50.9 billion. This is an increase of 28.3% compared to the same month last year, and 1.5% compared to November 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2021, semiconductor sales totaled almost 153 billion dollars - also a substantial increase of 28.3% compared to 2020.
John Neuffer, President and CEO of the SIA, comments on his industry's sensational annual result as follows: "In light of the ongoing chip shortage, manufacturers have substantially increased their production to unprecedented levels to meet the continuing high demand. This demand is likely to increase significantly again in the years ahead, as chips will find their way into even more essential current and future technologies. To ensure that a higher proportion of semiconductor production and innovation is localized in America over the long term, the U.S. government should rapidly fund investment in semiconductor research, development and manufacturing in the spirit of the bipartisan US Chips Act introduced in Congress to promote competition. This will greatly strengthen the U.S. economy, national security, critical infrastructure and supply chains, as well as our high-tech leadership."
Interestingly, regional chip sales in the US market saw the largest increase (27.4%) in 2021. However, China remains the largest single market for semiconductors, with total sales of 192.5 billion dollars in 2021, an increase of 27.1%. According to the SIA, annual sales also grew in Europe (27.3%), the Asia Pacific region (25.9%) and Japan (19.8%) in 2021.
In the SIA's opinion, the growth in some product segments, such as analog components for automotive technology, consumer goods and computers, is particularly noteworthy, with the highest annual growth rate of 33.1% to a total of USD 74 billion. Logic devices (54.8 billion dollars) and memory (153.8 billion dollars) were the strongest categories in terms of sales in 2021, with annual growth of 30.8% and 30.9% respectively. Micro ICs, i.e. processors, grew by 15.1% to 80.2 billion dollars in 2021. Sales of automotive ICs also rose by 34.3% to a record 26.4 billion dollars. The monthly sales mentioned here are determined by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and are based on a three-month average. The SIA represents 99% of US semiconductor companies and about two-thirds of non-US manufacturers.
