Semiconductor materials

United States – The global market for enterprise storage system semiconductors will reach $1.3 billion by 2012, growing at a CAGR of 6 percent, according to IDC.

The growing adoption and need for Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI), fibre channel-over-Ethernet (FCoE) and serial-attached SCSI (SAS) in various devices are expected to fuel the growth within the four-year period.

Semiconductor OEMs challenged by market’s fast pace

The storage system market usually has shorter turnaround times for selection, qualification testing and installation compared to networking-related silicon markets, said IDC. This poses a challenge to semiconductor OEMs, including those already involved in networking and telecom industries, to keep up with the market pace or get left behind.

Semiconductor companies that want to grab a slice of the storage system market should pay close attention to technologies such as 10GE/iSCSI, FCoE and SAS, said IDC.

Even with growth forecast for the period until 2012, however, pricing pressures and technological changes are expected to cause market opportunities for storage systems to rise and fall.