DISCRETE SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Size and Trends

The discrete semiconductor market is estimated to be valued at US$ 43.85 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach US$ 82.12 billion by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2024 to 2031.

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The widespread use of discrete semiconductors across industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, and telecommunication is driving the growth of this market.

Increased demand for more efficient and compact semiconductors from OEMs to support the development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and IoT is expected to boost the demand for discrete semiconductors. However, high development costs associated with small node sizes could hamper the market growth.

Increased adoption of semiconductor chips in connected devices and IoT applications

Traditional electronics have increasingly incorporated wireless connectivity capabilities that allow them to communicate with other devices and share data via local networks or cloud services. This trend has enabled many new IoT use cases in areas such as industrial automation, healthcare monitoring, environmental sensing, asset tracking, and smart city infrastructure. As more everyday objects gain embedded intelligence and network connectivity, they require discrete semiconductor components like microcontrollers, power management ICs, memory chips, and wireless communication chips.

For instance, the expanding IoT market, as reported by the CTA, is expected to drive the demand for discrete semiconductors in the U.S. In 2021, 23% of the U.S. homes had smart or connected health monitoring devices, and 19% had connected sports or fitness equipment, showing a growing trend in IoT adoption.

Vehicles are evolving from purely mechanical transport systems into highly sophisticated mobile computing platforms packed with cutting-edge electronics. This technological shift requires a tremendous increase in the number of discrete semiconductor chips utilized per vehicle. Functions like advanced driver assist, collision avoidance, infotainment interfaces, battery management, and electric powertrain controls rely on highly integrated and specialized automotive-grade chips. As electric and self-driving cars become mainstream options, they will integrate more powerful onboard computers that run complex deep learning algorithms alongside dedicated SoCs, MCUs, PMICs, memory, and connectivity chips.

For instance, in the electric vehicle (EV) power electronics system, the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) plays a crucial role. With the global sales of electric cars reaching 6.6 million in 2021, representing 9% of total car sales according to the IEA report, there is an increasing demand for IGBTs. In December 2021, STMicroelectronics introduced its third generation of STPOWER silicon-carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, enhancing power devices for EV powertrains and other applications prioritizing power density, energy efficiency, and reliability.