STMicroelectronics Defies Flat Car Infotainment Chip Market in 2008, Says iSuppli

May 18, 2009 16:08 Nikkei Electronics Asia

Defying a flat year for the global automotive infotainment semiconductor market, leading supplier STMicroelectronics NV managed to achieve double-digit revenue growth in 2008 due in part to the success of its Cartesio product, a combined media processor and GPS baseband chip, according to iSuppli Corp.

The global automotive infotainment semiconductor market in 2008 generated revenue of US$3.4 billion, up a scant 0.6% from US$3.3 billion in 2007. While the average amount of entertainment and informational electronics content in cars continued to increase in 2008, the infotainment industry suffered from a 6.6% decline in global car sales for the year. The infotainment semiconductor industry's flat growth in 2008 contrasts sharply with its 16.8% expansion in 2007.

STMicroelectronics massively outperformed the market in 2008, with its revenue rising by 12.6% to US$439 million, up from US$390 million in 2007. The company's share of global automotive infotainment semiconductor revenue rose to 13%, up from 12.6% in 2007.

"STMicroelectronics benefited from the strong market acceptance of the Cartesio, with the company notching up several key design wins," said Richard Robinson, principal analyst, automotive electronics, for iSuppli. "Due to the Cartesio, STMicroelectronics achieved massive growth in the multimedia/navigation segment of the infotainment chip market, with its revenue in this area revenue rising to US$71 million in 2008, up a stunning 1,320% from US$5 million in 2007."

Looking at the major segments of the automotive infotainment semiconductor market, STMicroelectronics in 2008 held the leading position in the audio amplifier and digital/satellite radio tuner/decoder segment and was no.2 in AM/FM tuner/audio processing and GPS navigation receiver areas.

There were no changes in the order of the top-5 infotainment semiconductor suppliers, with STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductor, Panasonic and Renesas maintaining their no.1 through no.5 positions. The combined revenues of the top 2 suppliers -- STMicroelectronics and NXP -- accounted for 25% of market revenue in 2008, as both companies supply a broad range of automotive-grade silicon to the infotainment market.

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