Global Top 10 IC Design Houses See 49% YoY Growth in 2024, NVIDIA Commands Half the Market

[TheLostSwede]

TrendForce reveals that the combined revenue of the world's top 10 IC design houses reached approximately US$249.8 billion in 2024, marking a 49% YoY increase. The booming AI industry has fueled growth across the semiconductor sector, with NVIDIA leading the charge, posting an astonishing 125% revenue growth, widening its lead over competitors, and solidifying its dominance in the IC industry.

Looking ahead to 2025, advancements in semiconductor manufacturing will further enhance AI computing power, with LLMs continuing to emerge. Open-source models like DeepSeek could lower AI adoption costs, accelerating AI penetration from servers to personal devices. This shift positions edge AI devices as the next major growth driver for the semiconductor industry.




AI boom fuels market consolidation in the IC sector
TrendForce highlights that AI-driven high-end chips require massive capital investment and cutting-edge technology, creating high barriers to entry and reinforcing market consolidation. In 2024, the top five IC design companies accounted for over 90% of total revenue among the top ten.

Demand for NVIDIA's H100/H200 GPUs has surged as CSPs continue expanding AI server deployments, pushing the company's IC design revenue past $124.3 billion and securing its position as the clear market leader with a 50% market share among the top ten. Future launches of the GB200 and GB300 series are expected to further boost NVIDIA's AI-related revenue in 2025.

Broadcom also benefited from AI-driven demand, with its semiconductor division generating $30.64 billion in revenue, an 8% YoY increase, ranking third. AI chip revenue now accounts for over 30% of Broadcom's semiconductor solutions. After facing a mid-year downturn in 2024, the company is expected to see strong rebounds in wireless communications, broadband, and server storage in 2025.

AMD secured fourth place with a 14% YoY revenue growth, reaching $25.79 billion. The company saw significant expansion in both its server and client CPU businesses, particularly a 94% surge in server-related revenue. In 2025, AMD will continue focusing on AI PCs, servers, and HPC/AI accelerators, leveraging collaborations with Dell, Microsoft, and Google to sustain its growth momentum.

Qualcomm and MediaTek rebounded from previous slowdowns in the smartphone market. Driven by growth in handheld and automotive segments, Qualcomm's QCT division generated $34.86 billion in 2024, a 13% YoY increase, securing second place. Qualcomm is expected to shift its focus toward AI PCs and edge computing as its legal disputes over Arm licensing are now temporarily concluded, expanding its high-end consumer market presence in 2025.

MediaTek ranked fifth with $16.52 billion in revenue, up 19% YoY, driven by strong performance across smartphones, power management ICs, and Smart Edge solutions. MediaTek's 5G smartphone penetration is projected to exceed 65% in 2025, with an increasing share in the high-end market bolstering revenue. Additionally, its partnership with NVIDIA on Project DIGITS is expected to sustain growth momentum.

Realtek and Novatek saw shifts in their rankings. Realtek's revenue climbed 16% YoY to $3.53 billion, reclaiming the seventh spot. Following a period of inventory correction in 2023, the company experienced a recovery in PC and automotive-related shipments in 2024. In 2025, networking and automotive businesses will be Realtek's key growth drivers, with its Wi-Fi 7 market penetration expected to reach double digits.

Will Semiconductor is projected to achieve revenue of $3.048 billion in 2024, representing a 21% year-over-year increase. Over the recent years, the company has continued to expand its market share in CIS (CMOS Image Sensor). This growth is particularly driven by the increasing proportion of high-end CIS shipments in Android phones and the ongoing penetration of electric vehicles globally, especially in the Chinese region, into autonomous driving applications, which has led to sustained revenue growth.

MPS rounded out the top ten with $2.2 billion in revenue, up 21% YoY. The company's PMICs have successfully entered the AI server supply chain, driving exponential growth in its Enterprise Data division.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[AusWolf]

Where's Intel?

 

[Bwaze]

And none of that growth was achieved by selling to end consumers, which are less and less a factor...

 

[Wirko]

Where's Intel?

The almighty and clairvoyant market analysts don't know where to put Intel on the list of chip designers. They also don't know where to put Intel on the list of foundries. Same with Samsung, and same with DRAM and NAND makers which, let's not forget, are chip designers too.

 

[Onasi]

Where's Intel?

Fabless list, so no Intel or Samsung by default.

 

[AusWolf]

The almighty and clairvoyant market analysts don't know where to put Intel on the list of chip designers. They also don't know where to put Intel on the list of foundries. Same with Samsung, and same with DRAM and NAND makers which, let's not forget, are chip designers too.

Fabless list, so no Intel or Samsung by default.

Ah, gotcha! I don't know how I didn't remember. I've always found this weird. If you have fabs, you're not a designer anymore, I guess.

 

[usiname]

Where's Intel?

Do they deserve to be there with 19b net loss for 2024?

 

[Daven]

Do they deserve to be there with 19b net loss for 2024?

The list ranks revenue not profit but also the weird way the list defines IC design houses (see comments above). Ignoring Trendforce’s definition, Intel would rank second with about $53B in revenue for 2024.

 

[AusWolf]

Do they deserve to be there with 19b net loss for 2024?

Ouch.

 

[Wirko]

Ouch.

Ouch.

 

[Onasi]

The list ranks revenue not profit but also the weird way the list defines IC design houses (see comments above). Ignoring Trendforce’s definition, Intel would rank second with about $53B in revenue for 2024.

I also find it… interesting how Apple is never in these charts despite too being an IC designer these days, quite a major one. I guess they aren’t sure what and how to calculate for them because of the closed off nature of their ecosystem.

 

[Daven]

I also find it… interesting how Apple is never in these charts despite too being an IC designer these days, quite a major one. I guess they aren’t sure what and how to calculate for them because of the closed off nature of their ecosystem.

That’s a good point. I’m guessing Trendforce set up industry contacts decades ago and hasn’t bothered spending the money to expand their market research. Many tech news, review and trend websites need to learn more about new chip designers beyond who survived after the internet bubble burst to keep up with the times.

 

[Wirko]

Then there are companies who design components of chips and sell licenses but don't have (much of) their own end products. Arm, Rambus, Cadence. I think they belong on this list too.

 

[Daven]

Then there are companies who design components of chips and sell licenses but don't have (much of) their own end products. Arm, Rambus, Cadence. I think they belong on this list too.

I think we might all agree that the IC supply chain is way more complicated than these oversimplified market rankings imply.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I also find it… interesting how Apple is never in these charts despite too being an IC designer these days, quite a major one. I guess they aren’t sure what and how to calculate for them because of the closed off nature of their ecosystem.

Some of it has to do with what is being publicly disclosed as well, if you can't tell what is what in a financial report, it's tough to list how much revenue a business unit made.

Then there are companies who design components of chips and sell licenses but don't have (much of) their own end products. Arm, Rambus, Cadence. I think they belong on this list too.

Well, no, they don't, as they are architecture or IP license companies, as none of them design chips, although this might change with regards to Arm. I guess maybe Rambus should belong here, but they clearly make next to nothing on their chips compared to the companies included.

 

[GuiltySpark]

Well, no, they don't, as they are architecture license companies, as none of them design chips

ARM designs their cores as ready to be fabricated, then that is left to the ones who will implement what remains before sending it to the fab. No one will start the layout of an SoC based on an ARM core from scratch every time, while also paying ARM for the license. That would kick many companies using the ARM IPs out of the game since the beginning.

 

[user556]

Fabless list, so no Intel or Samsung by default.

Apple is conspicuously missing from the fabless list.

 

[TheLostSwede]

ARM designs their cores as ready to be fabricated, then that is left to the ones who will implement what remains before sending it to the fab. No one will start the layout of an SoC based on an ARM core from scratch every time, while also paying ARM for the license. That would kick many companies using the ARM IPs out of the game since the beginning.

Arm might be doing that (they no longer use all caps btw), but it doesn't mean you can buy just that from Arm, as it requires a lot more to make a chip. Just because you can buy a set of cores, doesn't mean you won't need interfaces to attach to that, to make a working chip.
Some companies, like Apple and Qualcomm, has actually been doing exactly what you're saying no-one would be doing, but at least in the case of Qualcomm, they found it too costly in the end and stopped doing that. This is why Arm has had an architecture license for companies like this, but I guess only a handful of companies ever signed up for those in recent years.
You still need to license the core design from Arm, as Arm won't make the chip for you, so yes, maybe I was a bit sloppy in expressing myself, but Arm is not a design house in the traditional sense, as they're never involved in the last steps of the process, unless it's to verify that their IP can be made on a certain node.

Apple is conspicuously missing from the fabless list.

As pointed out, it might not be possible to deduce how much revenue Apple makes from that business unit, which would make it impossible to include them in a list based on revenue.

 

[Visible Noise]

Apple is conspicuously missing from the fabless list.

Who does Apple sell ICs to?

There's your answer.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Who does Apple sell ICs to?

There's your answer.

Well, technically Nvidia is in the same boat, but yeah, it's not like you can buy components from Apple.

 

[L0stS0ul]

Nvidia more than doubled in a year - that's also... abnormal, no one even came close.
The year-on-year revenue growth is 2%, 8%, 16 or 19% - and still the share in the market share of the Top 10 Revenue fell due to the results of only one company. Even if Mediatek grew by 19% from $13.8 billion to $16.5 or Qualcomm from $30.9 billion to $34.8 billion, they still fell within the markey share revenue.
One company already has 50% of the revenue of the top 10. And what is the entire market - the top 10 has 249 billion how much is the entire market? How many additional billions?