Re: 8 bit microcontroller market

Bill Giovino wrote:

Except for companies where the 8-bit is their primary company strategy
(like Microchip), there is a subtle defocusing of 8-bit from the major
players in order to make room in the fab for higher margin parts. The real
growth for embedded systems is in low-power 16-bit processors.

But really, the answer to your question all depends on what you want the
data for. Are you looking to serve a market with tools, compilers,
services, etc. or are you planning a new microcontroller introduction? Are
you looking at competitive or non-competitive cores and markets? You have
to treat the 8051 separately because it is less an 8-bit product, rather,
it is a separate market segment. These are all important issues.

Regards,

Bill Giovino

Thanks for your input Bill. I want the information simply to satisfy my
curiosity. Are there really more PICs made a year than 8051 derivatives? Or
does Motorola still head the 8 bit pack. It is said that more 8 bitters
are used in Japan than anywhere else - so how many and what type? Just how
many of each are made? How many AVRs etc etc? What proportion (by number by
value) is the 8, 16 and 32 bit segments and how have these changed over the
years? and so on. The last publicly available data for rough market
breakdown is for 1990 to 2000 and is:

WorldWide Microcontroller Shipments (in millions of dollars)

'90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00
4-bit 1,393 1,597 1,596 1,698 1,761 1,826 1,849 1,881 1,856 1,816 1,757
8-bit 2,077 2,615 2,862 3,703 4,689 5,634 6,553 7,529 8,423 9,219 9,715
16-bit 192 303 340 484 810 1,170 1,628 2,191 2,969 3,678 4,405


WorldWide Microcontroller Shipments (in Millions)

'90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00
4-bit 778 906 979 1036 1063 1110 1100 1096 1064 1025 970
8-bit 588 753 843 1073 1449 1803 2123 2374 2556 2681 2700
16-bit 22 38 45 59 106 157 227 313 419 501 585

What has happened since?

Ian
.

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