NXP Face Increased Pressure in Automotive ASSP Semiconductor Market

Driven by government legislation and customer requirements for safety, ASSP system is increasingly gaining traction, enjoying prosperity in most regions, including the leading North America, West Europe, Australia, South Korea and Japan. As a result, ASSP semiconductor also becomes a promising market.

According to the latest data of IHS, global ASSP semiconductor industry in 2012 grew by 2%, totaling $3021 million. Of top ten suppliers, six companies experienced growth. NXP ranked first for second year with market shares at 15.2%; followed by STMicroelectronics at 12.9%, Renesas Electronics at 12.8%, and Panasonic Corp at 9.3% and CSR at 7.0%.

“NXP is extremely well-positioned with its ASSP portfolio for the AM/FM tuner and audio processing segment, accounting nearly for half of all sales of these products in 2012,” said Luca DeAmbroggi, senior analyst for automotive infotainment at IHS. “While NXP’s market share held steady, the firm actually expanded is infotainment ASSP revenue by 2 percent, cementing its top-ranked status for the second year in a row. Like the other top infotainment ASSP suppliers, NXP achieved its leadership position by maintaining dominance in specific business lines.

Despite the leading position, NXP’s pressure in this field increases. In terms of growth rate, last year, NXP just rose by 2%, the lowest figure and maintained its market shares unchanged. While Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp in 2012 had the largest increase of 6.3% in 2012, contributing to its market shares to 12.8% from 12.3%.

Comparing with NXP and Renesas Electronics, they all show advantage in technology innovation. The Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, the rising of yen as well as the culture mode resulted in the profit decline for several consecutive quarters for Renesas Electronics and business damage. However, with the continuous reform, it is reported that Renesas Electronics has begun to return to profitability from the first quarter of 2013. So aiming at the relatively small gap, the future situation still presents change.