According to the latest data from IC Insights, total microprocessor sales are expected to maintain double-digit percentage growth in 2022, up nearly 12 percent to a record $114.8 billion, thanks to higher average selling prices (ASPs), despite a difficult economic year.IC Insights further notes that total MPU sales grow 13 percent in 2021 and 16 percent in 2020 climbing 16 per cent when the Covid-19 virus health crisis devastates the global economy but also drives microprocessor demand as more PCs, smartphones and internet connectivity pandemic are needed in the event of a fatal situation.
Statistics from IC Insights show that total MPU shipments grew by just 3% this year, following 6% and 5% growth in 2021 and 2020 respectively, which would take the number of units to an all-time high of nearly 2.5 million processors. The IC Insights data update said that MPU revenues are expected to be driven by 8% ASP growth in 2022, following 7% average price growth last year and 10% growth in 2020.
The ranking of the top five microprocessor suppliers remains unchanged in 2021 compared to 2020, with the value of their total MPU revenue shipped last year increasing by 15 per cent to $88.3 billion.
In 2021, the five largest microprocessor suppliers have a combined market share of 86.0 percent of last year's global $102.7 billion in MPU sales, compared to 85.0 percent in 2020 and 82.1 percent in 2016. The next five largest MPU suppliers - ranked 6th to 10th in IC Insights (Nvidia, Samsung, ZTE, Hysis and NXP) - together account for 4.3% of the 2021 total (or $4.4 billion) in 2020, compared to 5.0% in 2020.
It is worth noting that IC Insights' MPU ranking is based on sales of computer CPUs, embedded microprocessors and mobile application processors, but excludes co-processors such as AI/machine learning accelerators and discrete graphics processing units (GPUs). Many application-specific system-on-chip (SoC) designs with integrated CPU cores also do not count in the MPU rankings.
Top-ranked Intel and fourth-ranked Advanced Micro Devices provide processors built on x86 microarchitecture for traditional personal computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system software, inexpensive Chromebooks powered by Google, some tablets, and the vast majority of servers used worldwide. Intel and AMD also sell x86 designs for embedded MPU applications. The other suppliers in the top five MPU suppliers sell mobile designs (primarily mobile phone application processors) and embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC) microprocessors containing RISC architecture and CPU design cores licensed from the UK ARM subsidiary of SoftBank Holdings in Japan. The top four MPU suppliers are based in the US and MediaTek in fifth place is based in Taiwan, China.
While the market share of the top five suppliers has grown steadily over the past decade, the revenue gap between long-time MPU leader Intel and the other four largest companies in the ranking continues to narrow. ic Insights estimates that Intel's microprocessor revenue will grow by just 3% to $52.3 billion in 2021, representing 50.9% of last year's total MPU market revenue, compared to 2020 and 2016 55.7% and 58.4%, respectively. On AMD's side, its MPU sales jump 56% to $9.2 billion in 2021 and take revenue away from Intel and increase its microprocessor market share from 6.5% in 2020 and 3.3% in 2016 to 8.9% last year, after the company's sharp shift to CPUs for personal computers and server computers over the past five years.
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