INDUSTRY TRENDS - WIRELESS
A bright future for RF technologies by Cédric Malaquin of Yole Développement)
RF technologies enable wireless connectivity and sensing, which are key functions in any market segment from consumer to automotive.
In the mobile handset market, LTE evolution (LTE-Advanced, LTE-Pro) but also upcoming 5G which was just specified at the end of June 2018 through the 3GPP release 15 bring innovative RF technologies to the market such as carrier aggregation, MIMO, beam forming and dual connectivity in the sub 6 GHz or even millimeter-wave radio link. The mobile RF Front End market is expected to enjoy a sustainable growth with a CAGR of 14% reaching US$35.2 billion in 2023. This market opportunity translate into fierce competition between the current leader which are Broadcom, Skyworks, Qorvo and Murata and attract giant companies willing to expand from their core activities such as Qualcomm, Intel or HiSilicon. The RF front-end industry not only involve front-end module companies but also impact surrounding business for foundries, epi house, substrate providers, OSAT for packaging, assembly and test and of course equipment providers.