RF Signal Chain Component Market Size, Share & Trends

Updated on : Oct 22, 2024

RF Sigal Chain Components Market Size & Share

The global RF signal chain components market size is valued at USD 38.9 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to USD 80.0 billion by 2028; growing at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2028. increase in smartphone and mobile phone users is fueling the demand for smartphones and mobile phones, leading to the growth of the RF signal chain component industry.

RF Signal Chain Component Market Forecast to 2028

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RF Sigal Chain Components Market Trends

Driver: Rising demand for smartphones and mobile phones

Smartphones and mobile phones are among the most common application areas of RF signal chain components. Manufacturers integrate RF signal chain components into their smartphones and mobile phones for communication and navigation applications.

The RF tunable filters comprising micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) capacitors and digitally tuned capacitors allow smartphone designers to offer thinner phones equipped with highly efficient small-sized antennas. These components are also selected owing to their high-power handling capacity, low power consumption, and less insertion loss. The demand for smartphones and mobile phones has witnessed significant growth in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue in the future.

Restraint: Increase in cost of RF devices with performance improvement

The use of materials such as gallium arsenide or gallium nitride improves the efficiency of the devices, but it also increases the cost of the RF devices. The use of gallium nitride for manufacturing RF devices helps to increase the efficiency and performance of devices, particularly at high frequencies. However, they are expensive compared with silicon-based RF devices. Therefore, the rising cost of RF signal chain components is expected to hamper their adoption and restrain the market growth.

Opportunity: Growing demand for RF equipment in automotive sector

The use of electronic communications systems in automobiles has grown extensively in recent years. With the advent of connected cars and automotive telematics, RF semiconductor devices have witnessed increased applications in the automotive sector.

Connected cars include communication systems and devices such as V2X, Wi-Fi, cloud IoT, GPS, and integrated digital cockpit. RF signal chain components such as amplifiers, switches, filters, and highly integrated modules add important functionality to the vehicle processing and communication systems. Infotainment systems in a connected car allow passengers to connect outside and inside the car. Few infotainment applications include satellite radio, navigation, and GPS. These factors are expected to create lucrative opportunities for the RF signal chain component market players.

Challenge: Design complexities associated with RF devices

Design complexity makes understanding the workings of the RF signal chain components difficult, leading to inefficient results. The consumer electronics and semiconductor industry is working on integrating different functionalities in a single chip. This will help the companies working in the ecosystem to offers products with better efficiency and advanced applications.

In order to design such products with the design structure of chips becomes complex. Also, huge electronic circuits require high energy for efficient working and exhibit slow operations. As the developments in smartphone designs, increasing cellular network requirements, and rising deployment of modern survellience infrastructure, device complexity is expected to be a major challenge for RF signal chain component market.

RF Signal Chain Component Market Map:

RF Signal Chain Component Market Segment

Diplexers by product to capture largest market growth of RF signal chain components market during forecast period

A diplexer is a 3-port passive device that allows two different devices to share a common communication channel. It consists of two filters (low pass and high pass/band pass) at different frequencies connected to a single antenna. 5G diplexers support frequencies in three categories: Sub-1 GHz, 1–6 GHz, and above 6 GHz bands in the mmWave range. Apart from 5G technology, diplexers are used to separate/combine frequency bands of GSM 900 and DCS 1800 systems. They are also used in the multiband design of mobile handsets with multiple technologies such as GSM, CDMA, and LTE.

Ka band segment to have largest market share in RF Signal chain components market during the forecast period

The Ka band has become the band of choice for several satellite operators due to its low bandwidth cost and wide applicability in broadband services. Along with high efficiency, the Ka band offers high download and upload speeds and is less congested than other bands. Moreover, the deployment of 5G worldwide is expected to occur in the Ka band. All these factors are expected to drive the growth of this segment.

Gallium nitride (GaN) segment by material to grow with highest CAGR during the forecast period

Gallium nitride (GaN) is an emerging alternative to pure silicon in the field of semiconductors and electronics due to its high brightness emissions and intensities in opto-semiconductors, high power efficiency, high-frequency handling capacity, and flexibility with various substrates, such as silicon, sapphire, and silicon carbide (SiC). GaN is a hard and mechanically stable semiconductor material with a wide bandgap, high heat capacity, and thermal conductivity.

Consumer electronics segment by application to hold the largest market share of RF signal chain components market

The growing use of smartphones and rising demand for fast data transfer rates are major factors driving the growth of the consumer electronics segment in this market. The major wireless functions in a typical mobile phone include 2G/3G/4G (GSM/EDGE/CDMA/UMTS/WCDMA/LTE/LTE-A/TDSCDMA/TD-LTE) cellular modem and wireless connectivity systems such as WLAN, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), broadcasting receivers, and near-field communication (NFC). RF front end is a critical component in wireless communication systems as it helps in matching high wireless data transfer speeds with large bandwidth and high spectral efficiency.

RF Signal Chain Component Market Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific region to witness the highest growth during the forecast period

The RF signal chain components market in Asia Pacific is projected to grow significantly during the forecast period. The growth of the Asia Pacific market can be attributed to a significant shift toward high-speed mobile technologies (from 4G to 5G); the high adoption rate of smartphones; and increased use of mobile services, including e-commerce, video, social media, and financial services.

RF Signal Chain Component Market by Region

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Top RF Signal Chain Component Companies - Key Market Players

The key players in the RF signal chain components companies are

• Qorvo, Inc. (US),
• Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Japan),
• Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (US),
• Broadcom (US),
• Analog Devices, Inc. (US),
• MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (US),
• STMicroelectronics (Switzerland),
• CPI International INC. (US),
• NXP Semiconductors (Netherland),
• National Instruments Corp. (US), and
• Infineon Technologies (Germany).

RF Signal Chain Component Market Report Scope

RF Signal Chain Component Market Highlights

The study categorizes the RF signal chain components market based on By Product, By Material Type, By Frequency Band, By Application and By Region

Recent Developments in RF Signal Chain Component Industry

• In August 2023, MACOM has announced the acquisition of the RF business of Wolfspeed (US).  The RF Business includes a portfolio of gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) products used in high-performance RF and microwave applications.  The business caters to a broad customer base of leading aerospace, defense, industrial, and telecommunications customers, most recently generating annualized revenues of approximately USD 150 million. 
• In July 2023, Analog Devices announced the launch of Apollo MxFE, its most advanced software-defined, direct RF-sampling, wideband mixed-signal front-end platform. Apollo MxFE enables applications such as phased array radar, electronic surveillance, test, and measurement, and 6G communications in the Aerospace & Defense, Instrumentation, and Wireless Communications industries.
• In June 2023, Skyworks has launched a Si858x trans receiver. This product combines robust fully compliant Rs-485 transceivers with Skyworks’ Proprietary CMOS isolation technology. These devices are ideal for industrial applications requiring isolated Fieldbus system interfaces, such as ProfiBus or ModBus, based on an RS-485 physical layer.
•  In March 2023, Analog Devices has announced that it will invest in next-generation semiconductor R&D and manufacturing facilities. The investment will help construct a new, state-of-the-art, 45,000 sq. ft. research, development, and manufacturing facility. The new facility will help accelerate advances in cutting-edge applications, including digital biology, electric vehicles, and robotics

Critical questions answered by this report:

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