IHS: European and Japanese chip suppliers hit hardest by weak Q2 market growth
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According to a report by IHS iSuppli, poor economic conditions caused Q2 global semiconductor market revenue to fall by 3% year on year, resulting in revenue declines for chip suppliers, particularly those in Japan and Europe.
The report states that worldwide semiconductor sales decreased to $75.2billion in Q2 2012, down from $77.5bn during the same period in 2011.
In a troubling sign for the health of the semiconductor market in 2012, Q2 revenue increased by less than 3% compared to the typically weak first quarter. If the semiconductor industry were on a trajectory for stronger growth in 2012 compared to 2011, Q2 sequential growth would be expected to amount to at least 4% or more.
"Amid rising economic concerns—including the Eurozone crisis, slowing manufacturing growth in China and stubbornly highly unemployment in the United States – second quarter growth for the global semiconductor industry was highly disappointing," said Dale Ford, senior director of electronics and semiconductor research at IHS. "Approximately two thirds of the world's semiconductor suppliers saw their revenues decline in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2011. This weak performance bodes ill for the semiconductor industry's growth prospects for the entire year."
