根据IHS公司表示，受惠于智能手机与平板电脑等移动设备销售强劲的带动，2013年全球处理器出货量将较2012年大幅成长24%，达到15亿片的市场规模。
IHS公司在其报告中表示，处理器市场的快速成长来自于智能手机和平板电脑的强劲销售加持，这用于弥补今年台式机销售大幅下跌13%以及笔记本电脑销售下滑2%都已绰绰有余。此外，2013年所有的处理器应用领域几乎都出现成长态势，只有PC部份衰退，甚至是服务器用处理器都有所成长。例如，今年第二季的服务器处理器出货量达480万台，较去年第二季的460万台成长。
蓬勃发展的移动处理器市场更达到了两位数的成长，IHS表示。尽管其价格较PC处理器更低，但2013年整体处理器市场的营收将有个位数的成长。
“着平板电脑和智能手机逐渐取代消费者所用的PC，移动设备的普及改变了处理器市场的格局，”IHS分析师Gerry Xu表示，”出货至低迷的PC市场的处理器销售量预计将持续迅速下滑，而移动处理器市场则将在智能手机与平板脑的强劲成长带动下快速成长。”
受惠于智能手机与平板电脑的销售力道强劲，IHS预期2013年处理器市场的每季出货量均较2012年同期成长。
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IHS公司分析报告中的处理器包括了服务器和PC用的微处理器，以及在笔记本电脑、平板电脑和智能手机所用的移动处理器，无论是独立型应用处理器，或是包括一款基频处理器的SoC。
在最热门的移动处理器市场，IHS指出，传统PC所强调的原始速度已经转移到与移动运算有关的功能了，”相较于PC市场强调运算功耗的趋势，移动处理器市场则着重于电源效率与用户体验等性能。”
根据Gerry Xu表示，应用处理器厂商之间针对架构特色与价格方面的竞争也十分激烈，特别是像全志科技(Allwinner)和瑞芯微(Rockchip)等中国厂商，均供应平板电脑处理器给白牌供货商和品牌供货商，如惠普和联想。
“应用处理器厂商之间的竞争正持续升温。不同的厂商分别采取不同的方法，以期从竞争对手中脱颖而出，”他说，”如高通公司正在智能手机处理器取得了理想的定位，同时也提供了一个平衡的整体用户体验。此外，随着中国厂商在 Android 平板处理器占据主导位置，平板电脑处理器市场的价格竞争变得格外激烈。”
“当英特尔与联发科以更具积极的销售目标加入战局后，”IHS预计这一竞争态势将在明年更进一步加剧。
编译：Susan Hong
参考原文：Mobile Boosts Processor Market，by R. Colin Johnson
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This year's unit shipments for processors will grow 24% over 2012 to as high as 1.5 billion, according to IHS Inc.
The fast rise is being bolstered by strong smartphone and tablet sales, which are more than compensating for a 13% slump in desktop sales and a 2% drop in notebook sales, the research firm said in its report. Of all processor segments, only PCs experienced a downturn, since even server processors experienced growth in 2013. For instance, server processor shipments rose to 4.8 million units in the second quarter from 4.6 million a year earlier.
The burgeoning mobile processor market accounted for the double-digit overall growth, IHS said. Despite their smaller price tags compared with PC processors, the overall market revenue for processors will grow by single digits in 2013.
"Popularity of mobile devices has changed the landscape of the processor market as tablets and smartphones take over from PCs among consumers," IHS analyst Gerry Xu told us. "Processors shipped to the sluggish PC market is projected to continue to decline while the mobile processors market are set to rise rapidly following the strong sales growth of smartphones and tablets."
IHS's processor count includes the microprocessors powering servers and PCs, as well as the mobile processors in notebooks, tablets, and smartphones, whether they were standalone application processors or systems-on-chip that include a baseband processor.
In the hottest mobile processor markets, Xu said the traditional PC emphasis on raw speed has shifted to features relevant to mobile computing. "Instead of more computing power focus driven by PC market, the mobile processor market is focusing on features, such as power efficiency and the user experience."
According to Xu, competition among application processor vendors is fierce on both architectural features and pricse, especially now that Chinese vendors like Allwinner and Rockchip are supplying tablet processors to both white-box vendors and brands such as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo.
"The completion among application processor vendors is heating up. Different vendors are using different approaches to differentiate from competitors," he said. "Qualcomm is positioned well in the smartphone processor market while providing a balanced overall user experience, and price completion is particularly fierce in tablet processor markets, with Chinese vendors leading in Android tablet processors."
The competition is expected to heat up even further next year, when "Intel and Mediatek both join the war with aggressive sales volume targets."
相关阅读：
• AMD要在HSA处理器上成功？努力不能停
• 014年应用处理器技术与市场展望
• 机进入64位时代，ARM解读CPU与GPU竞争新格局Yjmesmc
