Smartphone sales help offset slump in mpu market
Worldwide microprocessor sales are on pace to reach a record high of $61billion in 2013, despite the ongoing slump in the pc market.
IC Insights says sales will increase by 8% this year from 2012, mostly due to strong demand for tablet computers and smartphones.
The company's mid year forecast trims the marketshare of x86 microprocessors primarily sold by Intel and rival AMD to 56%, compared to the previous estimate of 58%.
Embedded microprocessors are now expected to account for 11% of mpu sales in 2013 (versus 9% previously), while tablet processors are projected to be 6% of the total (compared to 5%).
Meanwhile, IC Insights says the larger market segment of mpus used in pcs, servers and embedded microprocessor applications continues to contract, albeit at a slower rate than in 2012.
The sector was previously forecast to rebound with sales increasing 5%, but the anticipated bounce back has been blocked by weak shipments of standard pcs.
