Semiconductor shortage to ease this year in some sectors and revenue expected to grow 13.6%

Gartner has said that worldwide semiconductor revenue will grow in 2022 by 13.6% as shortages begin to ease in some sectors. In 2021, revenue was at $595 billion, this year it’s expected to reach $676 billion, and by 2023 it could climb to $700.5 billion, though, that's only a growth rate of 3.6%.

With lockdowns being implemented on and off around the world since 2020, it has meant that factories have been unable to churn out as many semiconductors as are needed. Also adding to the constraint issues is the fact that demand for this hardware is increasing as businesses develop new technologies for homes and cars that previously didn’t exist.

According to Gartner, the semiconductor shortages in the PC and smartphone sectors have already begun to ease, however, in the automotive sector, issues are expected to linger on until the end of the year. Commenting on the problem with regards to the automotive sector, Alan Priestly, research vice president at Gartner, said:

“Although unit production of automotive vehicles will grow below expectation at 12.5% in 2022, semiconductor device ASPs are expected to remain high due to continued tight supply driving the automotive semiconductor market to double-digit growth (19%) in 2022. Automotive HPC, EV/HEV and advanced driver assistance systems will lead the growth in automotive electronics sectors through the forecast period.”

The new worldwide revenue estimate of $676 billion is a $37 billion increase on Gartner’s previous estimates. While it’s certainly good news that things seem to be getting back to normal in some sectors, China’s decision to enforce a new lockdown in Shanghai and increase anti-COVID measures in Beijing could lead to more disruption.

Semiconductor shortage to ease this year in some sectors and revenue expected to grow 13.6%