The semiconductor market - France

A semiconductor is a material with the electrical characteristics of an insulator, but for which an electron can contribute to an electric current. It therefore has an electrical conductivity intermediate between that of metals and that of insulators. The semiconductor market is the market for products made from this type of material. Semiconductors are partly used in electronics to manufacture components such as diodes, transistors, integrated circuits which are then used in telephones, cars, computers... The players in the semiconductor market are mainly international players and the three largest semiconductor vendors are Intel (US), Samsung (South Korea) and SK Hynix (South Korea) with respective revenue of $19.7 billion, $16.8 billion and $7.5 billion in Q1 2021. However, market players such as Intel saw a revenue decline of 4% from the last quarter of 2020. In its report, Intel explains this decline as a result of limited semiconductor supply in the market. This can also be explained by the current geopolitical context and the U.S. "war" against Huawei, which is destabilizing the semiconductor market, including the fact that the U.S. has banned Huawei from using U.S. machines to manufacture its semiconductors. However, despite the backdrop, the global semiconductor market remains attractive as global shipments in the first quarter of 2021 were $123.1 billion, up 3.6% from the first quarter of 2020, making it the highest increase for a first quarter since 2010. The growth of the semiconductor market is expected to continue in the coming years, as due to the global pandemic, industries are experiencing a shortage of semiconductors. While the French semiconductor market saw some semblance of recovery in Q4 2020, we are still far from its pre-pandemic highs. Indeed, in Q2 2020, the market fell and then recovered by 7% in value in Q3 2020, reaching in Q4 a 13% growth in value, which however remains a contraction of 8% compared to Q4 2019. In fine, the semiconductor market in France seems to follow the course of the global market.