I was a little surprised by this report that has Skyworks
surpassing RFMD in market share but Strategy Analytics announced
that Skyworks has managed to gain the number one position for
cellphone PAs according to their research. The rapid growth of
handsets has pushed the PA market to $2 billion per year with
Skyworks and RFMD relying on the majority of their revenues from
this market despite diversification efforts. Both firms and their
competitors have invested heavily in new PA products and
technologies to meet the demands of the cellphone OEMs for ever
more bands, higher data rates, higher efficiency and lower PA
prices.
Christopher Taylor, Director of the RF and Wireless Components,
commented, "The transition from the frenetic demand in the first
half of 2008 to a severely depressed Q4 caught many PA suppliers
off guard. PAs for mid-priced handsets took the brunt of the slump,
and so suppliers with high share in PAs for low-cost handsets and
PAs for higher-end 3G handsets fared better than suppliers with
broad portfolios at all price and performance points. Both Skyworks
and RFMD ended the year with close to one-third of the market, but
Skyworks edged slightly ahead of RFMD."
Compound semiconductor-based PAs will continue as the enabling
technology for the high-growth 3G and emerging 4G markets according
to Strategy Analytics. However, silicon-based PAs have started to
gain traction in low-cost handsets, as evidenced by the recent
acquisition of CMOS PA supplier Axiom Micro Devices by Skyworks.
This acquisition should help Skyworks compete in this market so
they appear to be positioned well for the near future.
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