SoC processor market 2013: Sales to rise 12%, as per IC Insights

IC Insights has reported the total microprocessor sales to rise 12% in 2013 with slight improvement in PC demand and continued strong growth in mobile SoC processors. The other points shared by IC Insights includes: Worldwide microprocessor sales are expected to regain strength in 2013 and grow 12% to $65.3 billion after rising just 5% in 2012 to $58.2 billion due to weakness in standard personal computers and the shaky global economy, according to IC Insights’ 2013 edition of The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry. The new report’s forecast shows the microprocessor market gaining strength between 2013 and 2016 with modest growth returning in standard PCs made with x86 processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and much stronger demand continuing for MPUs used in tablet computers and smartphones. Tablet processor sales are expected to grow 50% in 2013 to nearly $3.4 billion from about $2.3 billion in 2012, when revenues surged by 60%. Cellphone application processor sales are forecast to increase 28% in 2013 to $17.0 billion from $13.3 billion in 2012, when revenues climbed by 41%. In the larger mainstream MPU group—which includes x86 microprocessors for standard PCs, servers, and a variety of embedded processors, sales are forecast to rise 5% in 2013 to $44.9 billion from $42.6 billion in 2012, when this market cat...