Global chips, latest forecasts

The semiconductor industry is undergoing rapid transformation, influenced by advancements in artificial intelligence, geopolitical changes, and increased government investment in domestic production. With the acceleration of AI applications, the demand for high-performance chips has surged, while supply chain dynamics are being reshaped by evolving trade policies and national security concerns. At the same time, semiconductors have become indispensable in industries such as automotive, healthcare, and energy, driving the need for continuous innovation and strategic adjustments. Supply chain resilience and technological sovereignty have now become top priorities for businesses and governments. Efforts are underway to diversify production and reduce dependence, but structural challenges remain. Export controls, critical material restrictions, and changing trade alliances are redefining the semiconductor industry landscape, requiring companies to navigate increasing complexity while maintaining a competitive edge.

Demand Analysis:

Semiconductors Power Innovation and Daily Life

Why is Demand Crucial?

In today's world, semiconductors are indispensable. Due to the rapid advancement of technology and the growing demand in various industries, the semiconductor market demand presents a strong and evolving trend. When demand exceeds supply, analyzing these dynamics can reveal multiple ways to seize emerging opportunities.

As the backbone and enabler of data centers, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, smartphones, and other emerging technology trends, driven by widespread progress in various end markets, the global semiconductor market is expected to grow from $627 billion in 2024 to $1.03 trillion in 2030.

Automotive Sector

Driven by electrification, autonomous driving, and software - defined vehicles (SDVs), the automotive industry is undergoing a profound transformation. These trends are rapidly becoming industry standards, amplifying the role and value of semiconductors in modern vehicles.

As the electric vehicle (EV) market is expected to dominate the market share around 2030, the demand for high - voltage power semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) will surge. At the same time, autonomous driving technology is likely to progress, with most vehicles reaching Level 2, and an increasing number reaching Level 3. This development will drive up the semiconductor content per vehicle, from sensors and connectivity integrated circuits (ICs) to processing units. The rise of software - defined vehicles may shift vehicles towards a regional architecture with centralized computing power, thus increasing the performance requirements for automotive system - on - a - chip (SoC).

The cars of the future may not just be a means of transportation — it could become a new “home,” a high - performance computer on wheels, seamlessly powered by semiconductors.

Electrification and Connectivity

The automotive industry is currently in a transition phase characterized by electrification, autonomous driving, and connectivity. With the rapid expansion of the electric vehicle market (first in China, followed by Europe, the United States, and other regions), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly investing in hybrid and electric vehicles. By 2030, these vehicles are expected to account for about 50% of total vehicle sales.

The emergence of connected and autonomous vehicles is also shaping the future of the automotive market, driving it towards maturity. These trends, combined with the shift in powertrain technology, may become the new standard in the automotive industry, enhancing the status of semiconductors.

More Electric Vehicles? Need More Power!

The rapid growth of electric vehicles, along with the integration of infotainment and autonomous driving, is increasing the demand for power semiconductors. Power semiconductors are crucial for managing and converting electrical systems in modern vehicles.

As the automotive industry transitions from internal combustion engines (ICE) to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and pure electric vehicles (EV), power semiconductors may account for more than 50% of the total semiconductor cost.

More Efficient? Need More Powerful Chips!

With the shift towards electrification, the efficient control of power becomes more challenging, as engine driving and control, as well as more functions such as autonomous driving and infotainment, rely on electricity. Since driving an electric vehicle means the repeated switching of high - voltage electricity, the demand for power semiconductors that can efficiently handle higher power may surge. If the chips cannot withstand the high - voltage environment, it may lead to serious operational failures such as fires.

This may lead to an increased demand for new materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Compared with silicon chips, they can withstand higher voltages and provide faster switching speeds, reducing power losses during switching. Therefore, automakers use gallium nitride in the speed - critical medium - voltage stage and silicon carbide as the core device for high - voltage, high - power paths, achieving a balance between the efficiency, weight, and total system cost of electric vehicle powertrains.

Autonomous driving technology is divided into levels 0 to 5. Levels 0 - 1 provide driving assistance functions such as collision prevention and lane departure prevention. Level 2 enables partial autonomous driving, such as maintaining a distance from other vehicles on the road. Starting from Level 3, vehicles can operate without continuous driver monitoring. Level 3 is applicable to highways, Level 4 extends to ordinary roads, and Level 5 requires no driver at all, with the driver only acting as a “passenger.” By 2030, most new cars may have Level 2 autonomous driving functions, and the shipments of Level 3 autonomous driving may exceed 10% of the total.

The “Eyes, Brain, and Muscles” of Cars

As the level of autonomous driving increases, vehicles need greater capabilities to collect and process data. This progress increases the complexity of the vehicle's electronic architecture, driving up the semiconductor costs of high - performance computing (HPC) and advanced driver - assistance systems (ADAS). To achieve autonomous driving functions, cars must be equipped with multiple sensors and connectivity chips to sense real - time information, computing chips to process this data, and electronic control units (ECUs) to take actions with minimum latency.

Therefore, as vehicles become more automated, the number of chips installed and the average price per chip have increased significantly, driving the growth of the automotive semiconductor market.

Software - Defined Vehicles Change How Cars Work

Have you ever discovered new functions after a smartphone software update? Now imagine the same concept applied to cars. Software - defined vehicles (SDVs) can implement new functions through updates without hardware changes.

With the rise of software - defined vehicles, the industry is moving towards a regional architecture, where a central computer manages different areas of the vehicle. This approach further simplifies wiring, reduces physical complexity, and significantly improves the stability of software updates.

This architectural change is also reshaping the automotive semiconductor market. The number of electronic control units (ECUs) that previously handled single functions is now decreasing, while taking on more complex roles. The focus is shifting from individual ECUs to high - performance SoCs, AI accelerators, and high - speed storage chips. Connectivity chips for real - time data transmission and security microcontroller units (MCUs) for software protection are also becoming increasingly important.

Automotive SoCs will integrate processing units such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and image signal processors (ISPs), but as computing demands surge and the automotive architecture moves towards regionalization, the adoption of dedicated AI accelerators will also increase.

Semiconductor Demand by Application in 2030

The bubble chart shows the estimated semiconductor demand for major applications in 2030. The orange dotted line marks the average on each axis, dividing the applications into four quadrants.

Electrification and Automation

These two major trends have a significant impact on increasing semiconductor demand. In terms of electric powertrains, it mainly affects power semiconductors such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and silicon carbide chips, while autonomous driving mainly affects advanced driver - assistance system ECUs. In addition, the demand for electric and autonomous vehicles is growing simultaneously.

Furthermore, as autonomous driving technology and the software - defined vehicle trend advance and expand, the demand for related semiconductors such as automotive high - performance computing, sensors, and connectivity chips is expected to grow. In addition, there is an expectation to upgrade semiconductors related to the vehicle body, infotainment, and passenger safety to improve the in - car environment.

However, for the chassis and internal combustion engines, due to reduced technological innovation and stagnant market size, their market size is expected to gradually decline.

Servers and Networks

Since the rise of generative AI (Gen AI) applications in 2022, the amount of data generated and processed has grown exponentially. From AI - driven automation, the popularization of the Internet of Things, to the increased intelligence of automotive and industrial systems, data is no longer just an asset — it has become the cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure.

By 2030, the growth in demand for computing power is expected to further drive the development of CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, while high - bandwidth memory (HBM) will continue to be a key component supporting them. Especially for servers, major technology companies including cloud service providers have started developing their own application - specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to reduce operating costs. At the same time, the expansion of 5G may drive the demand for the computing power of network devices and gallium nitride (GaN) - based radio - frequency (RF) chips for ultra - high - speed, low - latency communication.

Servers and networks can be the backbone of intelligent applications around us, powered by the continuous progress of semiconductors.

AI Data Centers and Next - Generation Connectivity

The rapid development of artificial intelligence and connectivity technologies, as well as the adoption of advanced technologies by customers, has led to an increased demand for data centers and the servers within them to process this data. With the investment in data centers by cloud service providers, hosting centers, and telecommunications companies, the global server market is expected to exceed $300 billion in 2030.

At the same time, the demand for the infrastructure supporting the connection between servers and nodes is on the rise.

The demand for faster, broader, and more reliable connectivity has driven the market growth of devices such as routers and modems, which are part of the backbone and infrastructure. This trend is not limited to a single application but also covers enterprise, public, and private networks.

Faster, Larger, and Smarter Data Centers

Although it is a cliché, we are indeed living in a world of data and connectivity. The number of connected devices such as cars, home appliances, smartphones, and personal computers is unprecedented. In addition to the growth in the number of connected devices, consumers also demand higher - quality entertainment, such as AR/VR/XR games and seamless video streaming. In addition, the launch of “ChatGPT” in November 2022 has prompted companies and individuals to actively utilize AI services in various possible applications.

These applications generate and require massive amounts of data, and we have only just witnessed the beginning. With the high demand for games and video streaming, especially the rising demand for AI, the power consumption of global data centers is expected to more than double by 2030.

Data centers are key resources for storing, processing, and managing data. They used to mainly focus on serving