VOIP semiconductors will generate $938.4 mln in 2008

VoIP IC revenue will rise from $137.6 mln in 2003 to $938.4 mln in 2008, according to In-Stat. The main driver for this rapid growth will be the integration of VoIP functionality with many "dual-mode" cellular/VoIP (over WLAN) handsets, gaining mainstream traction in 2006 and ramping up extremely quickly in 2007 and beyond.

Similar to how quickly handset manufacturers integrated camera functionality in their products, virtually all cell phones will come integrated with Wi-Fi functionality toward the end of the forecast period. Texas Instruments (TI) currently dominates the VoIP IC market, particularly the IP phone IC and CPE VoIP Gateway IC segments. While several dozen vendors nominally participate in the VoIP IC market, only a handful of vendors account for the majority of shipments in each of the three main segments.