Laptops, AI Lead to Epic Chip Quarter: Revenue Soars 17.8%
TrendForce has unveiled its latest research report, which reveals that, buoyed by a robust demand for smartphones and laptops, coupled with the season of stockpiling and the accelerating shipments of AI-related main chips and components, the combined revenue of the top ten IC design companies globally reached a staggering $44.74 billion in the third quarter of 2023. This figure marks a significant 17.8% increase compared to the previous quarter’s $38.1 billion.
NVIDIA, riding the wave of the AI revolution, has outshone its competitors in both revenue and market share. In the third quarter, its revenue soared to an impressive $16.51 billion, up 45.7% sequentially, with its data center business contributing nearly 80% of this revenue, a pivotal factor in its growth. Qualcomm, benefiting from the launch of its new flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platform and the release of numerous new Android smartphones in the latter half of the year, saw its revenue rise to $7.37 billion, a 2.8% sequential increase. Broadcom’s strategic investments in AI server-related products have borne fruit, and along with the seasonal stockpiling of its wireless products, propelled its third-quarter revenue up by 4.4%, reaching $7.2 billion.
AMD, with the substantial shipments of its fourth-generation EPYC server processors and the seasonal stockpiling of laptops, has offset declines in its gaming business, leading to an 8.2% sequential revenue increase to $5.8 billion. MediaTek, aided by customer inventory replenishment orders, increased its revenue to $3.47 billion in the third quarter, up 8.7%. Marvell’s growth momentum was primarily driven by cloud services and data center businesses, with its revenue rising 4.4% sequentially to $1.39 billion.
Novatek and Realtek, ranked seventh and eighth respectively, primarily benefitted from customer inventory replenishments, though their third-quarter revenues declined by 7.5% and 1.7% respectively. Weil Semiconductor, bolstered by component stockpiling demand for Android smartphones, achieved a 42.3% revenue increase in the third quarter, reaching $750 million. Cirrus Logic, having replaced power management IC giant MPS, climbed to the tenth spot with a 51.7% revenue increase to $480 million in the third quarter.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, TrendForce anticipates a continuous upward trajectory in the revenues of the top ten IC design companies globally. This optimism is fueled by the seasonal stockpiling of smartphones and laptops and the industry’s recovery, alongside ongoing global investments in AI infrastructure development.
