Global microelectronics market with overall stable development

Memory chips, which were still the strongest sales drivers in 2017 and 2018, recorded a particularly sharp decline. From 2014 to 2019, the global market grew from USD 336 billion to USD 412 billion, an average annual growth of 4.2 percent. An annual growth of around 5 percent is expected for the next few years. The European market was worth around USD 40 billion in 2019. Between 2014 and 2019, its average annual growth was 1.2 percent. What is striking, according to Baumann, is the consolidation of the European share of total industrial sales that has been observed since 2015. In Europe, the focus remains on the growth areas of automotive and industrial electronics - the continent is the world leader in the use of semiconductors for automotive electronics. Both areas are expected to show high growth in the next five years. Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things are the main drivers of this development. The first signs of the global Covid 19 crisis are also visible in the microelectronics industry, although the first quarter of 2020 remained stable. Microelectronics continues to be in high demand in the fields of medical technology and home office applications. In order to expect further growth in the coming years, existing research, development and production in Germany and Europe must be maintained and expanded. Further investments in the European production locations are also necessary. Measures that have already been successfully taken, such as the IPCEI microelectronics and the European research community ECSEL, must be focussed further and remain financially sustainable.