Growing up in the GaAs market in the 80's, I like to follow how the market is doing. In its latest GaAs report, Strategy Analytics states that RFMD, Skyworks and TriQuint lead the overall GaAs device market which grew 9% year-on-year in 2008, with early estimates showing that RFMD, Skyworks and TriQuint further consolidated their leadership of the GaAs device industry, accounting for up to 59% of total GaAs industry revenues. Merchant demand for GaAs devices continues to be centered upon MMIC-based products targeted at the wireless sector and this drove GaAs device industry revenues up to $3.9 billion in 2008.

Asif Anwar at Strategy Analytics noted that 2008 was a very good year, but growth in the GaAs industry hit a wall in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 2009 will see industry revenues decline by five to six percent. However, he believes 2009 also presents an opportunity for the market leaders to squeeze out their competition, provided they can successfully leverage existing relationships while continuing to tap into adjacent markets and emerging opportunities.

Other conclusions include:

While TriQuint and Skyworks closed the gap, RFMD maintained its standing as the world’s largest supplier of GaAs-based RF components

Collectively the top ten GaAs device manufacturers—including Avago Technologies, M/A-COM and Mitsubishi Electric—accounted for up to 82% of the overall market.