The automotive semiconductor market is growing at a rapid pace. Foreign companies are releasing a variety of new products while trying to expand their business by means of M&As.
According to industry sources, the market has recorded double-digit growth for years, led by power controllers and infotainment system segments. Market research firm IHS recently forecast that the market will grow 7.5 percent year-on-year to reach US$31 billion this year. Nowadays, electronic components account for about 30 percent of the car price.
Under the circumstances, NXP, a Dutch company ranking sixth in the market, acquired fourth-ranking Freescale Semiconductor in the United States to be on par with German Infineon and Japanese Renesas, the top two in the industry. More than 13 percent of the total sales of Texas Instruments, the fifth-largest in the sector, is from the automotive semiconductor business, too.
Still, Korean semiconductor companies, which tend to focus on memory semiconductors, are showing no significant move yet. IA, which recently failed to take over Dongbu Hitek, is one of the few automotive semiconductor companies in Korea, but its annual sales stood at 61.1 billion won (US$54.1 million) last year. This amount reflects the lack of competitiveness of Korean system semiconductor companies.
In the meantime, it is said that Samsung Electronics will enter the market in the near future. Samsung Electronics has mentioned the possibility of the utilization of its Exynos 7 Octa 7420 application processor for the Galaxy S6 as an automotive AP.
“The domestic semiconductor market has revolved around memory semiconductors, and thus the basis of the automotive semiconductor business in Korea is very shallow,” an industry expert explained, adding, “However, joint efforts of the government and industry will be able to result in rapid growth based on the world’s highest foundry capacity and the presence of the Hyundai Motor Group, the fifth-largest carmaker in the world.”