5G ‘Near Term’ Deployment Rate ‘Better Than Expected,’ Says ON Semiconductor 

Strength in the industry’s 5G “ramp” contributed much of the 15 percent Q1 revenue growth in ON Semiconductor’s “communications end-market” sector, with networking and wireless components, said CEO Keith Jackson on a Q1 call Monday. Revenue of $259 million in the sector was 19 percent of total sales, he said. “We are seeing strong ramp in our power products in the 5G infrastructure market,” said Jackson. “We expect this ramp to accelerate in 2019 with increasing 5G deployments in a few parts of the world.” The “current indication” suggests a “better than expected rate of deployment for 5G systems in the near term,” he said. ON’s power “content” in 5G infrastructure systems is “many times” that of 4G systems, he said. “Our participation in 5G systems is expected to be significantly higher than our participation in 4G systems.”