2002 recovery will only get industry back to 2000 levels, says LSI's Corrigan
By Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Business News
(08/27/01 12:06 p.m. EST)
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MILPITAS, Calif. -- The current IC downturn appears to have hit the bottom, but there's still more unpleasant news in store for the industry, cautioned Wilfred Corrigan, chairman and chief executive officer of LSI Logic Corp. here.
"The panic could be over," Corrigan told SBN in an interview last week. "A lot ofour customers have told us that their business has bottomed."
But still, the IC market is a disaster in 2001. This year, the worldwide IC business will fall "something north of -30%" over 2000, Corrigan predicted in the interview at LSI Logic's headquarters.
The downturn could end up being even worse in the U.S. market. In 2001, the U.S. chip market alone could decline by about 40% or over last year, the CEO said.
In 2002, Corrigan said he will be looking for improvements in the business. "I think it's fair to say the [worldwide IC industry in 2002] could grow by 20%," he estimated.
"That will not be a cause to celebrate," he added. The 20% growth figure in 2002 "will just get us back to where we were the year before," observed the Silicon Valley veteran.
But on the positive side, the LSI Logic executive is already seeing some initial recovery signs in some chip markets--especially the storage and consumer segments. The communications chip market, however, remains soft, Corrigan added. |
