Audio chip sales will exceed $2 billion in 2001 despite PC slump, says report
By Semiconductor Business News
Apr 6, 2001 (5:28 AM)
URL: siliconstrategies.com
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Audio chip sales will increase 20% to nearly $2.04 billion in 2001 from $1.7 billion in 2000, with European and Asian markets primarily fueling growth this year, according to a new report from Forward Concepts here.
While PC demand is cooling off, consumer systems applications will drive stronger growth in the audio chip business between now and 2005, when the IC segment is expected to exceed $4.9 billion in sales worldwide, said the report. Between 2000 and 2005, audio chip revenues will rise at a compound annual growth rate of 24%, predicted Forward Concepts.
"In contrast to the eroding PC audio chip market, the consumer audio share increased to 52% in 2000 from 40% a year earlier, fueled primarily by the digital A/V [audio/video] receiver, set-top box, DVD, digital speaker, and MP3-type portable player markets," said Mahy Churylo, senior analyst and principal author of the report. "In fact, the consumer market will continue to be the fastest growing segment constituting almost 80% of the audio chip market by 2005.
"By contrast, the PC segment is forecasted to drop to only a 15% share and the professional audio share is forecasted to decline slightly from today's 9% share to 6%," the analyst added.
Internet audio portable player shipments are expected to reach 7 million units in 2001, up from 3.5 million units last year, according to the report. In 2005, 42 million units expected to be shipped worldwide, with flash-memory units constituting two thirds of the systems.
The report predicted that 12 million CD players with MP3-type decoders will also be shipped in 2005, and the study said Internet audio will become a standard function in most cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
www.cmpnet.com
The Technology Network |
