Home

Forecast lowered for global chip sales

APRIL 30--Instead of waiting until mid-year to revise its forecast, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA; www.sia-online.org) has already decreased its forecast of global chip-sales growth for 2003 from nearly 20% to 10% to 15%.
April 30, 2003
2 min read

APRIL 30--Instead of waiting until mid-year to revise its forecast, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA; San Jose, CA; www.sia-online.org) has already decreased its forecast of global chip-sales growth for 2003 from nearly 20% to 10% to 15%. Other market analysts are projecting more severe downturns of 3% to 9% for 2003. The SIA declares that in its global sales report for March 2003, sales were $12.1 billion, a 2.6% sequential increase from February 2003 and up 13% from March 2002.

George Scalise, SIA president, says, "The sequential revenue increase we recorded in March 2003 and the 13% year-over-year revenue gain for the first quarter of 2003 under trying global conditions, demonstrates the resilience and strength of this industry." The chip sector, however, continues to struggle from its largest downturn. In 2001, global sales plunged 32%, which resulted in a difference of about $100 billion in forecast growth by the SIA.

Last year, the SIA estimated a 6% growth. By mid-2002, this estimate was cut to 3%. By the end of 2002, actual growth was about 1%.

Although chipmakers are selling more chips than ever before, a glut of production capacity is keeping prices low and margins thin. One potentially bright spot is that some of the production overcapacity in certain sectors of the chip market seems to be diminishing.

Sign up for Vision Systems Design Newsletters

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Vision Systems Design, create an account today!