Global top 10 IC design house revenue spikes 32% in 2Q22, ability to destock inventory to be tested in 2H22

According to the latest TrendForce statistics, revenue of the top ten global IC design houses reached US$39.56 billion in 2Q22, growing 32% YoY. Growth was primarily driven by demand for data centers, networking, IoT, and high-end product portfolios. AMD achieved synergy through mergers and acquisitions. In addition to climbing to third place, the company also posted the highest annual revenue growth rate in 2Q22 at 70%.

Qualcomm continues in the No. 1 position worldwide, exhibiting growth in the mobile phone, RF front-end, automotive, and IoT sectors. Sales of mid/low-end mobile phone APs were weak, but demand for high-end mobile phone APs was relatively stable. Company revenue reached US$9.38 billion, or 45% growth YoY. NVIDIA benefitted from expanded application of GPUs in data centers to expand this product category’s revenue share past the 50% mark to 53.5%, making up for the 13% YoY slump in its game application business, bringing total revenue to US$7.09 billion, though annual growth rate slowed to 21%.

AMD re-organized its business after the addition of Xilinx and Pensando. The company’s embedded division revenue increased by 2,228% YoY. In addition, its data center department also made a considerable contribution. AMD posted revenue of US$6.55 billion, achieving 70% growth YoY, highest amongst the top ten.

Broadcom's sales performance in semiconductor solutions remained solid and demand for cloud services, data centers, and networking is quite strong. The company’s purchase order backlog is still increasing with 2Q22 revenue reaching US$6.49 billion, an annual growth rate of 31%.

In terms of Taiwanese players, MediaTek maintained growth in the mobile phone, smart edge, and power IC sectors, but was stifled by sluggish sales of Chinese-branded mobile phones. Revenue came in at US$5.29 billion, increasing 18% YoY. Novatek, whose products mainly consist of display driver ICs, was impacted by declining terminal demand for panels and consumer products, its revenue falling to US$1.07 billion, or a decline of 12% YoY.

Novatek is one of two companies on the top ten ranking posting a revenue downtrend in 2Q22. Realtek's networking product portfolio performed well, Wi-Fi demand remained stable, but the company was still affected by weakness in the consumer and computer markets. Company revenue was US$1.04 billion, and annual growth rate slowed to 12%.

Marvell's data center product expansion was successful, and the company’s revenue has increased quarterly for nine consecutive quarters. 2Q22 revenue reached US$1.49 billion, or an increase of 50% YoY. CIS revenue accounts for 80% of Will Semiconductor's semiconductor design business and 44% is used in smartphones. Battered by China's lockdowns and poor mobile phone market conditions, total revenue fell to US$690 million, a decline of 16% YoY and greatest revenue drop among the top ten. The company’s inventory even rose 108% YoY, again foremost among ranked companies.

Synaptics returned to the No. 10 spot after a several quarter absence. In addition to contributions from the acquisition of DSP Group, the company also focused on the development of a high-end product portfolio including automotive TDDI, Wireless Devices, VR, and Video Interface, pushing IoT business revenue to a 70% share, with revenue reaching US$480 million, for an annual growth of 45%.

TrendForce indicates, although the majority of IC design houses maintained annual revenue growth in 2Q22, due to overall economic uncertainty and poor consumer electronics market conditions, growth rates have slowed significantly and high inventory levels have gradually accumulated.

Moving into 2H22, downstream inventory has not been effectively eliminated. IC design houses will have difficulties maintaining revenue growth due to a high preceding base period and poor market conditions. Consumer IC products also need several quarters to regulate day sales of inventory and carry out destocking. The annual growth rate of inventory must guard against again widening the gap with the annual growth rate of revenue and this will become a challenge for IC design houses testing their strategies for new product development, production planning, and product sales.