Semiconductor foundry market up 5.1% in 2011

The analyst said the semiconductor supply chain experienced some impact from the Japanese disasters and Thailand flooding. However, without the steep depreciation of US currency, it reported that foundry growth in 2011 would have been just 0.7%. "Thanks to stable media tablet and mobile phone sales, a slide of the semiconductor and foundry revenue in 2011 was prevented," said Samuel Tuan Wang, research director at Gartner. "After 40.5% growth from 2009 to 2010, the foundry market maintained relatively flat business in 2011 due to the weakness in pc production and an overall consumer demand hit, as well as a leaner inventory practice by customers that started in mid 2011." Consolidation and domination of business continued. According to Gartner, the top five foundry players accounted for almost 80% of the foundry market share, with the top player, TSMC, expanding its revenue over 2010 and reaching 48.8% share in 2011.