Chip Design Cluster

National Chip Design Cluster

Currently 1.5 million workers are employed by 69,500 businesses
Number of businesses has been increasing since 2001
2,153 businesses have been added to the cluster since 2001 at an average growth rate of 0.8% yearly.
National cluster employment decreased about 19.1% from 2001-2005 from 1.9 million workers in 2001 to 1.5 million workers in 2005, an average decline of 5.2% per year.

The Chip Design industry (Computer and Electronics Manufacturing) cluster consists of:

Firms involved in the production of computers
Computer peripheral equipment, including the development and production of semiconductors
Businesses involved in researching and consulting on Chip Design.

Click here for a list of Chip Design cluster definitions

National Outlook

The Chip Design sector has a history of innovation and technological progression that continually demands a high percentage of educated and highly technical employees as well as a strong production base. Still, total employment is expected to decline between 2005 and 2014. This is due in part to the increase in labor efficiency due to supplementary labor such as robotic equipment, as well as in part to the outsourcing of some industry professions to other countries.

The Chip Design industry is very entrepreneurial in nature. New firms are often started by current industry professionals in order to develop a new product or innovation. As industry employment concentrates in smaller firms, as opposed to large firms that are more likely to engage in outsourcing, the downward trend in employment could soften. Currently, a majority of the industry’s jobs are in businesses with 250 workers or more.

Production is not expected to experience the same downturn as employment. New computer-related technologies such as digital cameras, media capable cellular telephones, and innovations in computers will continue to steadily increase consumer demand. The advent of clean energy systems will drastically increase production within the industry, as computer-related products are central to many key aspects of clean energy production (such as computer chips in hybrid cars).

PDF Downloads

Download the "Chip Design" Section of the Target Industry Report (PDF 428KB).
Download the entire Target Industry Report (PDF 8MB).