Worldwide semiconductor revenue to increase 31% this year, firm says
May 24, 2000 --- Worldwide semiconductor revenue, led by an upswing in the memory segment, is forecast to reach $222 billion this year, an increase of 31 percent over last year?s revenue, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group Inc.
The industry will continue its strong growth from 1999 when the market surged 22 percent over 1998 results. The market research firm predicts the worldwide semiconductor market will reach $320 billion by 2004.
?The role of semiconductors in end equipment such as next-generation consumer devices is increasing,? said Joseph Byrne, senior analyst for Dataquest's Semiconductor Worldwide program. ?In many product sectors, capacity is falling short of demand, with prices -- and therefore semiconductor revenue -- rising to equilibrate.?
The DRAM market is volatile, Dataquest said, but will provide much of the industry's short-term growth, with revenue forecast to grow from $23.1 billion in 1999 to $76 billion in 2002.
As a whole, the worldwide semiconductor market should experience double-digit growth through 2001, growing to $321 billion in 2002, Dataquest said. The market is forecast to start a cyclical decline in revenue by the end of 2002.
?In mid-2002, we expect the DRAM market to become oversupplied, leading to price declines in DRAM,? Byrne said. ?Within the following 12 months, we project the foundry market will also become oversupplied, triggering soft prices across a range of semiconductor products.?
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This double digit growth next year seems negative.
Jack |
