Texas Instruments (TI) was again the leading supplier of analog devices in 2014 with US$8.1 billion in sales, and increased its analog market share to 18%, while Skyworks Solutions was among the top analog chip suppliers showing the strongest growth thanks to orders from Apple, according to IC Insights.
TI's analog sales represented 62% of its total corporate revenues in 2014, said IC Insights. Since the 1990s, TI has focused on increasing its presence in the analog market.
In 2009, TI purchased 300mm manufacturing tools from defunct Qimonda and put them to use to build analog ICs, becoming the first company to manufacture analog devices on 300mm equipment. In 2010, TI acquired two wafer fabs operated by Spansion in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan, and it acquired a fully equipped 200mm fab in China from Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing in Chengdu. Both facilities were immediately put to use making analog ICs. In April 2011, TI acquired National Semiconductor - its rival in many analog markets - for US$6.5 billion.
TI is boosting its analog position by transferring more manufacturing to 300mm wafers in its newer RFAB and its older DMOS 6 fab, IC Insights observed. TI has said the 300mm fabs will together help reduce its total production costs by up to 40%, increase its available manufacturing capacity substantially, and give it added flexibility to respond to customer demands.
TI's 2014 analog revenues were nearly 3x larger than second-place STMicroelectronics, whose sales grew 2% in 2014, IC Insights noted. ST accounted for 6% of the market. ST attributed its lower analog sales to softer equipment sales (computer, consumer, automotive, industrial) among its primary customers.
Skyworks enjoyed a stellar year in which its analog sales increased 42% mostly due to strong worldwide smartphone sales, IC Insights indicated. Skyworks makes analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for Apple, Samsung and other suppliers of mobile devices. Multiple power amplifier components from Skyworks are found in Apple's iPhone 6 models, IC Insights said. It has been estimated that Skyworks supplies US$4 worth of content from every new iPhone 6 handset.
While Skyworks is heavily focused in mobile, CEO David Aldrich has said the company's technology is "a conduit into the Internet of Things." In 2015, the company said it would look to the automotive, home, and wearable markets to expand its presence in applications linked to the IoT.
Analog ICs like audio amplifiers, op amps, are analog switches are key components and building blocks for creating innovative wearable applications. Skyworks' wireless technology is used in some General Electric healthcare equipment, and the company recently sealed a deal to supply high-performance filter solutions to Panasonic devices.
Analog Devices purchased smaller rival Hittite Microwave in mid-2014, a company that specialized in devices for RF and signal-conversion applications. ADI's analog sales grew 9% in 2014. ADI is expected to provide devices that enable the 3D/Force Touch feature - currently available on the Apple Watch - to the iPhone 6s that is due out in the second half of 2015 and new generations of the iPad, IC Insights said. The Force Touch feature uses tiny electrodes to distinguish between a light tap and a deep press to trigger contextually specific controls.
The wold's top-10 analog IC suppliers accounted for 57% of total analog sales in 2014, up slightly from 56% in 2013, according to IC Insights.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
