Semiconductor sales in 2010 will show ‘largest revenue increase’
1 min read
The global semiconductor market will achieve the largest revenue increase in its history in 2010, thanks to a boom in dram and NAND sales, according to market research firm iSuppli.
In a preliminary report, iSuppli believes that semiconductor revenues in 2010 will reach $304billion, a 32.5% increase over 2009, when sales were $229.5bn. However, iSuppli points out that percentage growth was higher in 2001, when sales boomed by 36.7%.
"While many observers expected the semiconductor industry in 2010 to achieve a solid rebound following the deep drop of 2009, the actual growth far outstripped all expectations," said Dale Ford, iSuppli's senior vp, market intelligence services. "The enormous expansion in semiconductor revenue was based on renewed demand for electronic equipment, such as computers, televisions and mobile phones. However, semiconductor sales in 2010 are set to rise at more than three times the rate of electronics equipment revenue. This growth is being driven by a range of multiplying factors, including inventory rebuilding, upward price pressure due to a supply/demand imbalance and an increase in the average semiconductor content of major electronic products."
The report claims every major semiconductor category, with the exception of NOR flash and specialty memory, will achieve double digit revenue growth in 2010. And it adds that, despite 'economic turbulence and uncertainty', the industry has now seen six sequential quarters of growth – the longest period of continuous growth since 2004.
Ford notes that a deeper examination of the dramatic growth in the semiconductor market in 2010 yields some surprising insights.
Despite the relatively modest growth of worldwide car sales in 2010, the automotive semiconductor market is projected to achieve the highest growth of all major chip application markets at 41.1%. On the other hand, he continues, the wireless communications segment will see the lowest overall growth among the major chip application markets, with semiconductor revenue rising by only 24.4% in 2010.
Ford says that, while growth in electronics revenue is expected to continue in 2011, the multiplying factors that propelled growth in 2010 will lose their potency next year. As a result, iSuppli is projecting a 'soft landing' for the semiconductor industry in 2011 with a growth of 5%.
