Foreign suppliers dominate as chip use hits new high

China's semiconductor use has hit a record high and accounts for more than half of the global market, but the country is overly dependent on foreign suppliers for relevant products, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report issued on Thursday.

With an 8.7 percent growth in 2012, China's semiconductor use was 52.5 percent of the total worldwide, said a PwC report titled China's Impact on the Semiconductor Industry - 2013 Update. Semiconductors act as an engine now driving an increasing amount of the technology in people's lives.

The growth in Chinese semiconductor use is a remarkable contrast to the global market for semiconductors, which experienced an overall decline of 3 percent in 2012, the report said.