‘Semiconductor patents market worth three billion in 2009’

According to market researcher Semico Research, patents will become the next killer app for growth in the semiconductor market. According to the research firm, this market will grow by an average of 23.9 percent per year until 2009 and will therefore reach a total value of 4.1 billion dollars or 3.3 billion euros in 2009. According to Semico, several trends point to this growth. For example, the use of outsourcing within the semiconductor industry is increasing, photomasks are becoming more expensive, the design time of chips is increasing and the number of potential markets is decreasing. All this, Semico believes, will lead to further segmentation of the semiconductor products market, with the system-on-chip market occupying most of the intellectual property. In that year, the communications segment, such as mobile phone chips or wireless network equipment, will be the largest consumer of semiconductor intellectual property. In the computer and consumer sectors, respectively, the third and third most intellectual property will be handled.