SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Automotive electronics' share of the worldwide electronics market ticked up in 2015, and is forecast to grow for the next four years as well.

Vehicle electronics made up 8.9% of the $1.42 trillion worldwide electronic systems market last year, up slightly from 8.6% in 2014, says IC Insights.

Automotive’s share of global electronic system production has increased incrementally and is forecast to show slight gains through 2019, when automotive electronics are forecast to account for 9.4% of global electronic systems sales.

IC Insights believes pricing pressures on automotive ICs and electronic systems will prevent the automotive end-use application from accounting for much more than its current share of total electronic systems sales through 2019.

Falling average selling prices in analog, MCU, and special-purpose logic have largely offset unit growth over the past few years, says the firm. In 2015, falling ASPs led to a 3% decline in the automotive IC market to $20.5 billion. The automotive IC market will return to growth in 2016, increasing 4.9% to $21.5 billion, as currency exchange rates stabilize and additional electronic systems (such as backup cameras) become mandatory equipment on new cars sold in the US. The automotive IC market is now forecast to reach $28 billion in 2019, representing average annual growth of 5.8% from $21.1 billion in 2014.

The 2019 automotive IC market will be 2.6 times the size it was in 2009, when the market was only $10.6 billion — its low-point during the recession, according to IC Insights.

Analog ICs and MCUs together accounted for 74% of the estimated $20.5 billion automotive IC market in 2015. Demand for automotive MCUs continues to expand as more vehicles are designed with embedded computer systems to address safety and efficiency issues demanded from legislators and consumers.

As cars get smarter and more connected, demand is growing for memory and storage to support an array of applications. DRAM and flash memory, which receive considerable attention in computing, consumer, and communication applications, are currently much less visible in the automotive IC market, but memory ICs are expected to account for 12% of the 2019 automotive IC market, up from 7.8% in 2015.

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