The Global Market for Semiconductor Intellectual Property Market is Projected to Surpass US$5.9 Billion by 2020

Proliferation of Electronic & Communication Devices Drives the Semiconductor Intellectual Property Market, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

GIA launches comprehensive analysis of industry segments, trends, growth drivers, market share, size and demand forecasts on the global Semiconductor Intellectual Property market. The global market for Semiconductor Intellectual Property market is projected to surpass US$5.9 billion by 2020, driven by the proliferation of communication & consumer electronic devices, growing functionalities of chips, and rising design costs.

Semiconductor component manufacturers are concentrated in just a few countries worldwide including the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, China, and select locations in Europe. Semiconductor is a technology and knowledge intensive industry with advances in the field impacting the licensing industry. Increasing shift towards smart and connected devices along with the growing emphasis on miniaturization has led to advances in component designs, which are generally patented inventions. The scenario promotes licensing of patents, thereby driving the market for semiconductor intellectual property (IP) worldwide. The industry is currently striving to improve performance of traditional silicon-based semiconductor ICs, while simultaneously decreasing consumption of power, size and cost of transistors. Implementation of advanced semiconductor process nodes of sizes below 20 nano-meter, however, requires high investments owing to the increasing cost of fab. As a result, research on nodes of 20 nm and below is dominated by established companies with significant resources and scalability required for development.

Design IP involves the use of pre-qualified hardware blocks for constructing the SoC designs. This use of hardware blocks is referred to as IP core while the use of software modules is referred to as software IP blocks. While licensing of technologies expedites time to market and reduces cost of production, tracking, verifying, and maintaining the number of IP license agreements with various vendors presents a challenge in itself. The backdrop has led to the proposal of novel licensing schemes such as pay per use licensing in the works for IP cores, involving 3rd party metering service for monitoring usage. The most ideal strategy for choosing a licensing partner is based on several factors including the location of the manufacturing facility as well as the geographical coverage of the specific patent. Detecting patented technologies within the semiconductor industry is a challenge owing to the declining sizes of advanced semiconductors which require state of the art analysis tools for circuit extraction. Additionally, the decreasing distance between the various metallization layers entails the need for advanced techniques of delayering in order to expose the numerous layers of circuitry in an IC. The supply chain environment in the semiconductor sector is complex, with most semiconductor manufacturers working with the same set of customers and suppliers for design IP, equipment and manufacturing tool requirements. The complexity in relationships further complicate licensing agreements as companies look to secure license coverage that includes affiliates, customers and suppliers. Patenting is further complicated by the evolving regulations surrounding injunction, patent expiries as well as additional remedies and rights. As a result, patent licensing decisions require detailed and careful consideration of the strategic objectives to be achieved.

As stated by the new market research report on Semiconductor (Silicon) Intellectual Property (IP), Asia-Pacific represents the largest market worldwide. China, India, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan represent the leading markets for semiconductor IP in Asia-Pacific. These countries with their robust pace of industrialization, infrastructure development and GDP growth offer ample business opportunities for electronic component manufacturers. The United States is poised to emerge as one of the fastest growing markets with a CAGR of 9% over the analysis period.

Major players covered in the report include ARM Limited, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., CEVA, Inc., Digital Media Professionals Inc., eMemory Technology Inc., Imagination Technologies Ltd., Intel Corporation, Mindtree Ltd., Rambus Inc. , Silicon Image Inc., Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., Sonics Inc., Synopsys, Inc., and Vivante Corporation, among others.

The research report titled “Semiconductor (Silicon) Intellectual Property (IP): A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic industry activities of global companies. The report provides market estimates and projections in US$ Thousand for all major geographic markets such as the US, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), and Rest of World. The Semiconductor IP market is further analyzed by Form Factors [System-on-Chip (ASIC IP, Digital IP, Processor IP, Programmable IP, and Others) and Integrated Circuit (ASIC IP, Digital IP, Processor IP, Programmable IP, and Others)]; Processing Nature [Processor IP and Non-Processor IP (ASIC IP, Digital IP, Programmable IP, and Others)]; Processing Type (DSP Core IP and Microprocessor Core IP); Processing Design (Embedded Processor IP and General Processor IP); and End-Use Sector (Consumer Electronics, Information & Communication Technology, Computers, and Others).

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