Worldwide IC unit shipments will increase 9.2% to a record high of 427.7 billion units in 2022, after surging 22% in 2021, according to IC Insights.

Of the 33 major IC product categories defined by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, 30 are forecast to show positive unit growth in 2022 and three (SRAM, DSP processors and gate array chips) are forecast to have unit shipment declines. Twelve product segments are forecast to match or grow more than the expected 9.2% growth rate for total IC units this year, IC Insights said.

From 2021-2026, IC Insights forecast the IC unit CAGR will be 7%. Ignoring the 5-year CAGR timeperiods with abnormally high or low endpoints, IC Insights believes that the long-term CAGR for IC unit growth will be 7-8%, moderately lower than the historical 42-year rate of 9.4%.

The figures compiled by IC Insights show that there was a falloff in shipments in 2019, which was only the fifth time in the history of the IC market that there was a year-over-year decline in IC unit volume. The previous four years with a drop in units were 1985, 2001, 2009, and 2012.

By DIGITIMES