To All re ADI; Posted: 3:00 p.m., EDT, 8/19/98
Digital wireless apps drive DSP growth
By Stephan Ohr
TEMPE, Ariz. - The continued growth of digital wireless communication applications will help drive a 20 percent
increase in the sale of programmable DSP chips in 1998, when the market will reach $3.9 billion, according to a new
report from Forward Concepts.
While disk-drive controllers and modems also increased DSP unit volume, those gains will be offset by soft pricing,
said Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts and principal author of the report, "DSP Strategies 2002." Newer
DSP markets for digital audio and control applications will experience moderate growth, he said.
The report forecasts even stronger 32 percent growth for programmable DSP chips in 1999 and a 33 percent
compound annual growth rate to 2002, when the programmable DSP market is expected to reach $13.4 billion,
Strauss said. The growth will be fueled by a healthier Asian economy and by new applications like digital cameras,
satellite phones, smart antennas, voice over IP, AC motor control and digital TV.
Texas Instruments Inc. dominated the $3.215 billion market for programmable DSPs in 1997, holding over a 45
percent share, according to the study. Lucent Technologies held roughly the 29 percent - the same share it held in
1996. Analog Devices Inc.'s DSP business grew almost 50 percent in 1997 to more than $380 million, or a 12 percent
market share, which put it neck-and-neck with Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector.
Strauss also projects 30 percent growth in the market for function-specific DSPs, which includes algorithm-specific
DSPs, as well as FPGAs, media processors and microprocessors with DSP applications. Examples of these chips
includes PCI audio ICs, Dolby Digital and home theater decoders, MPEG decoders, videoconferencing chips, devices
for ADSL telephone and QAM cable modems, set-top boxes and global positioning systems. With 80 IC suppliers and
over 1,000 known customers, this market is expected to top $6 billion this year, Forward Concepts said.
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