Global RISC-V System on Chip Market Size, Share and Forecasts 2030

Key Findings

• RISC-V System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions are gaining rapid traction due to their open-source instruction set architecture (ISA), enabling cost-effective, flexible, and customizable semiconductor designs.
• The RISC-V ecosystem has matured significantly, with robust support from startups, academic institutions, and major semiconductor firms.
• RISC-V-based SoCs are now being integrated into applications ranging from embedded control and microcontrollers to AI accelerators, automotive systems, and edge computing.
• Demand is driven by geopolitical factors favoring sovereignty in processor IP, especially in China and Europe, alongside cost advantages and IP flexibility.
• Companies like SiFive, Andes Technology, Alibaba T-Head, and Ventana Micro Systems are at the forefront of RISC-V SoC development.
• Asia-Pacific is leading in terms of R&D investment and commercial deployment, followed by North America and Europe.
• The market is experiencing strong venture capital interest, government-backed initiatives, and collaborative consortia such as RISC-V International.
• RISC-V SoCs offer a strategic alternative to Arm and x86 designs in custom silicon for hyperscale data centers, automotive controllers, and consumer IoT devices.
• Technical barriers still exist, including fragmentation, lack of mature toolchains in some verticals, and IP integration challenges.

Market Overview

RISC-V System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures leverage the flexibility and openness of the RISC-V ISA to enable customized processor cores for a wide range of applications. Unlike proprietary architectures, RISC-V SoCs allow design teams to innovate at both the hardware and software levels without licensing restrictions. This freedom is increasingly important in a world of heterogeneous compute demands, where custom silicon plays a critical role in optimizing power, performance, and area (PPA). From low-power wearables to high-performance AI accelerators and automotive ECUs, RISC-V SoCs are redefining how compute is embedded into devices. As global supply chains diversify and the cost of chip design decreases due to open IP models, RISC-V is positioned to be a transformative force in the semiconductor landscape.

RISC-V System on Chip Market Size and Forecast

The global RISC-V SoC market was valued at USD 450 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 3.8 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.2%. The explosive growth is fueled by the adoption of RISC-V SoCs in diverse verticals including edge AI, industrial IoT, automotive safety systems, embedded controllers, and academic/research platforms. As more IP blocks, verification environments, and commercial design kits mature around the RISC-V ISA, the time-to-market for RISC-V SoCs continues to shorten, enhancing their commercial viability.

Future Outlook For RISC-V System on Chip Market

The RISC-V SoC market is poised for transformative growth over the next decade. We anticipate a shift from early-stage embedded control and hobbyist applications toward high-performance, domain-specific SoCs in automotive, cloud computing, and mobile devices. With multinationals embracing open compute architectures and forming industry alliances, RISC-V is on track to become a mainstream architecture rivaling Arm and x86 in select applications. As advanced process nodes, chiplet integration, and heterogeneous computing trends evolve, RISC-V-based SoCs will enable differentiated, sovereign silicon solutions globally. Regulatory support for open architectures, especially in China, India, and Europe, will accelerate the scale and scope of adoption.

Certainly! Here is the elaborated version of the Market Trends, Market Growth Drivers, and Challenges in the Market sections for the RISC-V System on Chip Market document.

RISC-V System on Chip Market Trends

• Commercialization of 64-bit and Multicore RISC-V SoCs:The market is witnessing a surge in 64-bit and multicore RISC-V SoCs, which go beyond the embedded domain to support general-purpose operating systems like Linux. This shift is driven by applications such as AI edge modules, SSD controllers, and networking systems, where performance scalability and efficient instruction sets are vital. These multicore designs are increasingly seen in processor-intensive environments previously dominated by Arm and x86-based SoCs, signifying a broader transformation of computing architectures toward open standards.
• Emergence of RISC-V Chiplets and Heterogeneous Integration: With the industry trend moving toward modular and disaggregated chip architectures, RISC-V cores are now being used as chiplets integrated into larger systems. These chiplets serve specialized roles such as security enclaves, power management, and AI accelerators within a heterogeneous SoC package. This development is especially impactful for industries aiming to build application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with flexible logic blocks and IP reuse across product lines.
• National Semiconductor Initiatives Favoring RISC-V: Several countries have launched national semiconductor strategies that explicitly support the adoption of RISC-V, seeking to reduce dependence on foreign-controlled IP and foster technological sovereignty. China’s investment in the Xuantie series, India’s Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) initiative, and Europe’s embrace of open hardware as part of Horizon Europe are all indicators of how RISC-V aligns with strategic autonomy in computing. This has led to new fabs, R&D hubs, and funding ecosystems that are built around RISC-V hardware.
• Expanding EDA and Toolchain Ecosystem: The availability of commercial-grade EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools tailored for RISC-V SoC design is rapidly maturing. Vendors like Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens EDA now offer RISC-V-specific IP libraries, verification flows, and RTL simulators that streamline complex SoC development. Simultaneously, open-source toolchains like GCC, LLVM, and the RISC-V Debug Specification are becoming more stable and better integrated, accelerating the adoption curve among developers and SoC architects.

RISC-V System on Chip Market Growth Drivers

• Cost-effective Licensing and Customization Flexibility:Unlike proprietary instruction sets that require significant royalty payments and licensing negotiations, RISC-V is free to use and modify. This open-source licensing model dramatically lowers the financial and administrative barriers to entry for semiconductor startups, universities, and smaller OEMs. Additionally, the ability to tailor the ISA to specific workloads—by adding or omitting instructions—enables fine-tuned optimization of PPA (power, performance, and area), resulting in better product differentiation.
• Adoption in AI, Automotive, and Industrial Domains:RISC-V SoCs are being adopted across a diverse array of verticals, each requiring different performance and safety characteristics. In the automotive sector, RISC-V designs are being qualified for ISO 26262 compliance and used in safety-critical applications such as ADAS and domain controllers. Meanwhile, in AI edge and industrial automation, RISC-V processors offer deterministic execution and real-time responsiveness, giving them a performance edge in control systems and inference tasks.
• Innovation in Academia and Open Hardware Collaboration: The global academic community has embraced RISC-V as a foundation for curriculum development, prototyping, and collaborative R&D. Projects from UC Berkeley, ETH Zurich, and IIT Madras are contributing advanced processor designs and SoC toolkits to the open hardware ecosystem. These platforms are not only accelerating innovation cycles but are also being spun off into commercial products and IP libraries, fueling grassroots and industrial RISC-V adoption simultaneously.
• Shift Toward Sovereign and Open Hardware Strategies: The strategic risks associated with foreign-controlled semiconductor IP have pushed governments and defense sectors to explore open hardware alternatives. RISC-V offers the unique benefit of transparent design and auditability, which is essential for secure and trustable compute platforms. This trend is giving rise to localized fabs, domestic EDA toolchains, and vertically integrated SoC design companies focused on RISC-V, creating new market opportunities at the national and regional level.

Challenges in the RISC-V System on Chip Market

• Fragmentation and Interoperability Limitations: While the customizable nature of RISC-V is a strength, it also leads to inconsistent implementations that may lack compatibility across vendors. Unlike standardized architectures where a common feature set ensures interoperability, the RISC-V ecosystem is still grappling with harmonizing extensions and baseline capabilities. This fragmentation increases software development effort, hinders porting across devices, and slows down system-level integration.
• Limited Software Ecosystem for High-performance Applications:Although RISC-V support for embedded systems is relatively mature, its software ecosystem for server-class and performance-intensive applications remains underdeveloped. Lack of mature device drivers, middleware, and optimized libraries continues to be a bottleneck for adoption in data center and enterprise workloads. Developers must often invest additional time in porting applications and debugging across hardware variants, which can offset the initial cost benefits.
• Verification and Compliance Complexity: Ensuring the functional safety and security of RISC-V SoCs, especially in regulated industries like automotive and aerospace, requires rigorous verification and validation procedures. Without a well-established compliance suite or centralized testing authority, each vendor must independently develop testbenches, perform formal verification, and secure certifications, which can be time- and resource-intensive. This increases the total cost of ownership and lengthens development cycles for critical applications.
• Competing Architectures’ Incumbency:Despite the momentum behind RISC-V, the entrenched position of Arm and x86 in commercial ecosystems cannot be understated. These incumbents benefit from decades of ecosystem maturity, robust developer support, and backward compatibility guarantees. For OEMs with large codebases and legacy systems, the cost of transitioning to a RISC-V SoC—both in terms of software refactoring and ecosystem retraining—can be prohibitive unless the performance or cost advantages are substantial and immediate.

RISC-V System on Chip Market Segmentation

By Core Complexity

• 32-bit RISC-V SoCs
• 64-bit RISC-V SoCs
• Multicore and Heterogeneous RISC-V SoCs

By Application

• Embedded Controllers
• Edge AI and ML Accelerators
• Automotive ECUs and Safety Processors
• Networking and Communication Devices
• Industrial and Smart Manufacturing
• Storage and SSD Controllers
• Educational and Academic Platforms

By End-user Industry

• Consumer Electronics
• Automotive
• Industrial Automation
• Defense and Aerospace
• Academia and Research
• Cloud and Data Center Providers

By Region

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa

Leading Players

• SiFive Inc.
• Andes Technology
• Ventana Micro Systems
• Alibaba T-Head
• Codasip
• GreenWaves Technologies
• Esperanto Technologies
• GigaDevice Semiconductor
• Rivos Inc.
• StarFive

Recent Developments

• SiFive launched a high-performance RISC-V Performance P870 SoC IP platform aimed at automotive and industrial edge AI deployments.
• Ventana Micro Systems revealed a chiplet-based RISC-V SoC that targets hyperscaler workloads with multi-core, high-throughput architecture.
• Alibaba’s T-Head deployed RISC-V SoCs in its Xuantie series for AI inference in consumer IoT devices, pushing commercial-grade adoption in China.
• Andes Technology announced partnerships with EDA vendors to simplify the design flow for safety-critical automotive RISC-V SoCs.
• Codasip introduced customizable RISC-V-based application cores with pre-verified SoC templates to reduce time-to-market for OEMs.