Sales revenues of power management and driver ICs are predicted to fall by around 3% next year, according to marketwatcher IMS Research.

Global sales of power management and driver ICs reached almost $13bn in 2008, but IMS expects this to fall by nearly $400m in 2009.

It is anticipated that the sectors worst hit will be automotive, portable consumer and desktop PCs with an average decline of around 10%.
 
“The power IC market is fairly resilient due to the emphasis placed on greater power efficiency within many applications. This tends to demand a higher quality IC with a higher average selling price and hence drives market growth,” said analyst Ryan Sanderson from IMS Research’s power and energy division.

“However, with automotive and portable consumer applications being two of the largest markets for power ICs, it is inevitable that revenues will suffer as consumer spending slows,” said Sanderson.

In the mid-term Sanderson expects the market to remain strong with a steady recovery in 2010 and growth of around 10% for 2011 and 2012.
 
IMS Research’s analysis also showed that the top five suppliers in the power management and driver ICs market are Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies, National Semiconductor, Maxim Integrated Products and Linear Technology.

Collectively they are estimated to account for almost 40% of the total market.