subject: Aarkstore Enterprise 2008 Report On China's Mcu (micro Controller Unit) Market [print this page] As IC (integrated circuit) sector moved into the low-growth stage of its business cycle, the growth of global MCU market has slowed down in 2008, especially markets in Europe and the America. Although the growth rate of China's MCU market is still higher than the global average, it was slowing down in 2008 due to the slow growth of the country's manufacturing of electronics products.
China's market grows at single-digit rate for the first time
Although its growth has been slowing down in recent years, China's MCU market had still been growing at double-digit rates, which was like kind of a characteristic of China's market. In 2008, however, the fast-growth stage ended and the market stepped into a stage of single-digit moderate growth, which was only 5.8% year-on-year, the lowest in past ten years.
It's mainly because China's electronics manufacturing grew slowly in 2008. The output of electronics products is high after years of heady growth so that the sector is unable to keep growing at the high rate as before. As a result, the growth of demand for MCU is slowing down rapidly. On the other hand, the great downward movement of product prices is also responsible for the slow growth of MCU market, as downstream market participators are passing on cost pressure to upstream ones in front of fierce competition.
The competitive landscape indicates that, the increase of sales of major MCU producers has slowed down evidently because of the weak demand and low prices. In addition, the continuous appreciation of the renminbi and other macroeconomic factors also have impact on the profitability of multinational producers of MCU.
Market share of top-end products increases obviously
As for the mix of products, 8-bit ones still dominate the global MCU market in 2008 because of their relatively low prices, improving performance, and extensive application fields. But the market has been shifting towards 16-bit and 32-bit products as products are more integrated and deliver higher performance. The growth rates of various MCU products in China's market showed that 16-bit and 32-bit products were the bestsellers. With both of their market scales growing at about 20%, 16-bit and 32-bit products have become an import force leading the market.
As for auto electronics, consumers have become increasingly demanding about the safety and comfort of cars. As a result, information and safety products such as car information systems, ESP, ABS and TPMS would become popular soon and would be updated continually. As becoming the major parts of auto power system, safety control and multimedia entertainment, 16/32-bit MCU is greatly improving the efficiency, convenience, and functions of automobiles.
