It said the market for IoTs, which could hit $20.9 billion in 2017, is expected to top $34.2 billion in 2021. IoT is a concept of connecting different devices and machines to the Internet, and facilitating the exchange of data that improves efficiency and convenience in all manner of industry.

It said growth through 2021 in the auto and IoT industries could reach 13.4 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, far outpacing the 7.9 percent growth forecast for the rest of the semiconductor industry in the same time period.

Besides autos and IoT, IC Insights said growth for chips in medical devices and wearables will expand 9.7 percent and 9 percent, respectively, through 2021. It said self-driving cars and artificial intelligence will generate more demand for specialized chips in the future.

In regards to mobile phones that had played a critical part in growth, sales are estimated to expand an average 7.8 percent through 2021, when the overall market will stand at $105.6 billion, or roughly a quarter of the whole computer chip industry that could reach $434.5 billion.

On the other hand, the latest findings speculated that video game consoles, as well as the tablet market, will post average negative growth of 1.9 percent and 2.3 percent annually, with semiconductors supplied to these devices to stand at just $9.7 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively.

The researcher then said a spike in prices for DRAMs and NAND flash memories caused the semiconductor market to grow at the fastest pace since 2010, with solid growth momentum to be maintained in the next couple of years. (Yonhap)