Growth in automotive semiconductors outpace expectations

In our 2019 paper Automotive semiconductors: the new ICE age, we described the opportunities and challenges for the automotive semiconductor business and predicted the market would reach $200 billion by 2040. With electrification, autonomy, and other mega trends in the automotive industry, we noted that motor vehicles were becoming computers on wheels, making automotive one of the fastest-growing segments in the semiconductor industry. 2021 turned out to be a record year both for the semiconductor industry as a whole and for the automotive semiconductor segment, despite unprecedented supply-chain challenges and shortages affecting everything from autos to refrigerators. Given these developments, we now predict the automotive segment will reach$200 billion sooner and surpass $250 billion by 2040.