The Electronic System Design industry grew 14% in the fourth quarter of 2021 over the prior year, adding another positive indicator of performance for the overall electronics industry.
All of 2021 was a record year for semiconductor companies, as reported earlier by Omdia, with revenues reaching $586.8 billion, or 24% above 2020.
Omdia also projected annual revenues for the automotive semiconductor sector for 2021 would exceed $51 billion, up by 28%, even amid supply chain disruption and global vehicle production increases of just 2.5% in 2021.
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Meanwhile, ESD revenues reached $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter, and the four-quarter moving average for 2021 was up by 15.8%, SEMI reported on Monday.
All of 2021 saw $13.2 billion in total market revenue for ESD, said Walden Rhines, executive sponsor of the SEMI Electronic Design Market Data report.
Of course, ESD is not the same industry category as semiconductor design and manufacturing, although there are potential areas of overlap.
As SEMI defines ESD, its reporting includes the following categories with revenues for the fourth quarter:
--Computer-Aided Engineering, up 11% to $1.06 billion.
--IC physical design and verification, up 2% to $624 million.
--Printed Circuit Board and Multi-chip Module, up nearly 14% to $337 million.
--Semiconductor Intellectual Property, up nearly 25% to $1.4 billion.
--Services, up by 43% to $131 million.
SEMI said 51,000 people were employed globally in the fourth quarter in ESD areas, up nearly 6% from a year earlier.
The Americas had the strongest growth of any region in the fourth quarter, up by 21% to $1.5 billion. Asia Pacific was next with $1.2 billion, up by 14%. Europe, Middle East and Africa was third with $482 million. Meanwhile, Japan saw a 2.4% decrease to $222.8 million.
Both public and private companies are part of the SEMI tally.