IC materials industry to grow 15% in 2001 in spite in downturn, report says
Semiconductor Business News
(03/21/01 16:13 p.m. PST)
TRIPOLI, Penn. -- The semiconductor materials business is projected to grow by 15% in 2001, in spite of the downturn in the IC industry, according to a new report from The Information Network, a market research firm based in Tripoli, Penn.
The silicon wafer business will grow 17.9% to $8.7 billion in 2001, while the specialty gas sector is projected to jump 16.0% to $1.2 billion in the same period, according to The Information Network. Other sectors such as liquid chemicals, resists, and electronic gases will grow nearly 10%, the company said.
The overall IC materials business is relatively healthy. In 2000, the market for these products grew about 21%, they said.
"There are several factors converging at this time," noted Robert N. Castellano, president of the company. "First and foremost, we are seeing the end of the downturn in the semiconductor market, particularly in DRAM pricing and falling inventories as shipments of motherboards and PCs have begun to rise," he said.
"Secondly, technology pushes to 0.11-to-0.13-micron are driving the need for higher priced parts-per-trillion purity chemicals," he said. "Third, there is a historic lag of one year between inflections in the chemicals markets and the semiconductor markets tied to shipping schedules and contracts that have yet to play out following a strong growth year for semiconductors in 2000." |
