RISC-V processors are projected to capture nearly a quarter of the global market by 2030, according to recent research from Omdia. The open-standard instruction set architecture (ISA) is anticipated to see the most significant growth in the automotive sector, although industrial applications will remain the largest user of this technology. Additionally, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing a crucial role in the increasing adoption of RISC-V.
RISC-V stands out for being licence-free, enabling anyone to develop hardware using the architecture and customise the instruction set as required. Initially, RISC-V processors were primarily simple microcontrollers, associating the architecture with deeply embedded technologies, particularly in the Internet of Things (IoT). RISC-V is expected to maintain a notable presence in this domain through 2030. However, recent years have seen the technology expand into other applications, including those requiring advanced computing and intelligence.
“RISC-V makes the most sense in novel applications, where a developer doesn’t already have an existing Arm product in place. The rise of AI, the increase in use cases and capabilities, means a lot of new territory is being revealed and all of it has potential for RISC-V,” said Edward Wilford, Senior Principal Analyst for IoT at Omdia. “The growth of RISC-V is concurrent with the rise of AI and especially edge AI, and that will provide a massive opportunity for ISA.”
From 2024 to 2030, Omdia forecasts that RISC-V-based processor shipments will grow by nearly 50% annually, reaching 17 billion processors by 2030. Industrial applications are expected to account for 46% of these processors, although the automotive sector will see the highest growth rate during the forecast period.
Omdia predicts that RISC-V processors in automotive applications will increase in volume by 66% annually. “The automotive industry is undergoing a rapid transformation, and semiconductors are crucial to every element of that transformation,” Wilford said. “RISC-V has unique, desirable aspects for the automotive industry—you can own your design in RISC-V in a way that you simply can’t with a licensed ISA, and in conversations in the industry, that’s really highlighted as an important element.”
Simultaneously, Omdia also forecasts a significant rise in the use of AI in automotive applications, including autonomous driving, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI). “There is no doubt AI will be one of the largest drivers of RISC-V adoption in many segments; the efficiency and scalability of RISC-V is uniquely suited to developing processors for performing AI operations,” added Wilford.
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