Automotive IC sales roll in 2012

SAN FRANCISCO -- If there's a bright spot in the semiconductorindustry's lackluster year, it's the automotiveindustry, where IC sales are riding the wave of increased new-carsales and the semiconductor content in vehicles is at record levels,according to new report.

The research firm Databeans reported today (Aug. 23) thatsemiconductor content in vehicles has been growing at "double-digit"rates in recent years and will reach roughly $350 per vehicle thisyear.

"Although high-end luxury cars have significantly highersemiconductor content than mid-range or economy vehicles, manyoptional features are now becoming standard on mid-range cars,"Databeans said, adding the "trickle-down effect appears to bequickening. "Much of this comes from mega trends like increasedwireless connectivity, energy savings, and safety."

Rising units; stable ASPs
This year, semiconductor vendors will sell $25.3 billion worth ofproducts to automotive suppliers, flat with 2011 but units edged upto 76.7 billion pieces for an ASP of 33 cents. The IC industry'sautomotive revenues will rise 8 percent on average to $37.3 billionby 2017 and 112 billion units, Databeans forecast.

Databeans pointed to STMicroelectronics (where the automotivedivision accounts for 17 percent of sales) and Infineon (43 percentof revenues) as standout vendors in the segment. Indeed, MarioMonti,executive vice president and general manager of ST's automotiveproduct group, toldEE Times recently, "The future of the automotiveindustry is bright."

Outlook
The Databeans report continued:

"In the United States, new small car sales are growing at theirfastest pace since 2008 as the auto-market continues to help leadthe U.S. economy out of recession. In fact, recent U.S. governmentdata showed motor-vehicle output contributed half of the 2.2 percenteconomic growth registered in the first quarter." 

"Heading into the second half of the year, car sales are expected togrow even faster after a government announcement in late May thatChina will resume its subsidies for consumer who scrap their oldertrucks for new, light commercial vehicles. On the flipside, newvehicle sales are declining in Europe, which is dragging downresults in the market in general. Germany's auto-making associationexpects that Europe's auto market will contract 5 percent this year,although this decline could be smaller if the region's sovereigndebt crisis gets resolved."

Hybrid and pure electric vehicles (HEV/EV) continue a solid growthpath, rising to 2 million vehicles in 2012, double the number in2009. Databeans forecasts 4.2 million HEV/EV cars will be sold in2017.

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