The global chip sales reached a record $559.9 billion in 2021 according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). This marks a jump of 26.2% over the previous year.
The year 2021 also signifies the first time since 2018 that the number of chips sold has passed 1 trillion.
In 2021, 1.15 trillion semiconductors were sold, with the largest year-on-year increase in chip sales in auto-grade chips, a segment in which sales increased by 34%.
China remains the largest market for semiconductors, with total revenues of $192.5 billion in 2021, an increase of 27.1% year-on-year.
The SIA forecasts growth of 8.8% in 2022. According to SIA CEO John Neuffer, this growth is driven by the digitalization trend which has continued to increase since the pandemic.
“It’s still really trending very strongly towards increased demand. We’re just not going to get this kind of slingshot effect that we had in the pandemic,” Neuffer said.
Chip manufacturers have been investing billions of dollars in new factories since 2021 to meet the growing demand for chips, which will help increase the number of chips produced each year.
For more information, read the original story in Reuters.
