The strong CAGR for automotive ICs is partly due to the fact that this market is growing from a smaller base compared to the communications, computer, and consumer segments and partly because a steady and significant increase in IC content is expected onboard all new cars—luxury level to base models—throughout the forecast period.

Systems that provide partial or high automation and that may eventually lead to fully autonomous vehicles are boosting total IC content per automobile. The computation load of next-generation advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) jumps very quickly with every attempt to widen the sensing range, boost detection precision, and execute more powerful algorithms to respond quickly and effectively to many different driving conditions.

In 2015, IC Insights estimates that automotive IC sales will represent 7.3% of the total $287.1 billion IC market. Yet, despite growing at a faster annual rate than other end-use segments, automotive IC sales are not forecast to account for much more of the total IC market than they do today.

The automotive IC market is forecast to represent 8.1% of the total $358.7 billion IC market in 2019. Falling average selling prices continue to offset steady unit growth—particularly among automotive analog, MCU, and special purpose logic devices—which has mitigated bigger gains in auto’s share of the total IC market.