Revenue forecasts not as bad as predicted
Revenue could fall 12% in the global semiconductor industry this year, far less than the 20% drop originally predicted by market analyst iSuppli.
According to iSuppli, a rebound in semiconductor sales in the second quarter has softened the blow with a strong performance by memory chips, which suffered from oversupply for much of the past three years, as well as sales of chips for consumer electronics and wireless products.
iSuppli expects only one on of the top suppliers, Samsung Electronics, to see higher semiconductor revenue this year and forecasts a 1.4% increase.
Among the companies with lower semiconductor revenue, iSuppli predicted Advanced Micro Devices would decline 7.6%, while Sony would drop 33%.
The wireless communications chip market was the most resilient segment, with an expected decline of 8.2%, followed by the dataprocessing segment, down 9.8%.
Hardest hit was the automotive electronics industry, with an expected drop of 26%, followed by industrial electronics and consumer electronics, both down 15%.