PC Sales to Recover, Says AMD
Despite the current slow down, sales of personal computers (PC) are expected to hit US$41 billion in 2002 compared to US$30 billion in 2000, according to Hector Ruiz, president and COO of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Speaking at the Industry Strategy Symposium 2001 held at Pebble Beach, California, in January, Ruiz said reports of the demise of the PC have been greatly exaggerated, and he expects to see a recovery in the demand for PCs by no later than the second half of this year.
Ruiz also expects sales of flash memory products to double from US$10 billion in 2000 to US$21 billion in 2001. "Despite an aggressive capacity expansion program, flash memory producers have been unable to keep up with demand, and we believe the supply-demand imbalance will continue over the next several years."
Based on that forecast, Ruiz said AMD and its competitors will invest heavily in capacity addition. Either solely or with partners, AMD is to invest in two 300mm wafer production facilities, one for flash memory production, the other for advanced logic products.
At the same event, Adailio Sanchez, general manager for manufacturing operations and business transformation at IBM Corp's Personal Systems Group, said that fixed, wired PCs will offer greater functionality in the coming years, and their sales will remain healthy, growing at a percentage rate somewhere in the mid-teens.
"The mobile PC market will grow faster, probably in the mid-20% range, especially as higher-speed wireless technologies come on line. Mobile PCs will also morph into a host of new device categories all across the end-user spectrum," he said.
Sanchez said he expected to see numerous advances in the deployment and use of personal and local-area networks, including Bluetooth. "Wireless is no longer a novelty, but a way to do business," he said. PC and device makers should start deploying Bluetooth products in volume this year, he said, but added that the chips used to power these devices must become more energy efficient because they consume up to 30% of a laptop's battery power.
This column is a box for [Cover Story] Chipmakers Hunt Talent for Survival.
(March 2001 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia) |
