The overall MPU market growth will only be 7% in 2022

The IC Insights report pointed out that after a 31% increase in mobile application processors (APs) in 2021, the total sales growth of the overall microprocessor (MPU) market will slow down in 2022, increasing by only 7%, of which mobile phone APs will increase by 10%; Data from the new Q1 update indicates that computer CPUs and embedded MPUs will see modest growth in 2022.
 
After climbing 16% in 2020, total global MPU sales maintained a strong 14% growth in 2021 to a record $102.9 billion. The important reason is that the emergency lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic has driven demand for PCs and smartphones.
 
Total global MPU sales growth is expected to fall back to single-digit 7% in 2022. But that would still bring the MPU market to a new high of $110.4 billion, while shipments would grow 6% to 2.6 billion units.
 
The overall MPU market will maintain double-digit percentage growth in 2021, mainly due to the surge in sales of mobile phone APs. That's because users are turning to smartphones that run faster, including those with new 5G cellular modems, or more powerful cameras and AI machine learning.
 
After reaching an all-time high of $35 billion in mobile AP sales in 2021, growth is expected to be revised down to 10% in 2022. But that would still lift mobile microprocessor revenue to $38.4 billion.
 
Affected by the new crown epidemic, many consumers, businesses and schools have purchased new equipment for remote work and home education, which has slowed down the strong demand for personal PCs. As a result, worldwide computer CPU sales are expected to grow by 4% in 2022 to a record $50.5 billion.
 
IC Insights' sales of embedded microprocessors used in a wide range of end systems including industrial, communications, automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to grow by 9% in 2022, following two years of steady growth of 11% in 2020 and 2021. % to about $21.5 billion.
 
Overall total MPU sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3% between 2021 and 2026 to $133.3 billion.
 
Mobile phone AP sales will rise at a CAGR of 6.3% to $47.4 billion, while computer CPU revenue will grow at a 3.7% CAGR to $58.1 billion.
 
Sales of embedded MPUs are expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% to reach $27.8 billion in 2026.