seattletimes.nwsource.com
Friday, June 22, 2001 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Computer chip demand to dive; sales projected to be worst since 1985
By Bloomberg News
PARIS - Demand for personal-computer chips will fall 55 percent this year as the market heads for its worst collapse since 1985, according to a market researcher.
Dataquest, a unit of Gartner, expects DRAM sales to fall to $14 billion this year from $31.5 billion in 2000. DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, are chips used in personal computers.
Chip makers worldwide are faced with a sudden slowdown in demand compared with last year, when global semiconductor sales surged 33 percent, according to Dataquest. This year consumers are delaying purchases as an economic slowdown spreads and makers of personal computers and mobile phones work through inventories they built up last year.
"Both 2001 and 1985 market crashes were brought about by a sudden decline in demand and increasing inventories," said Andrew Norwood of Dataquest. "In 1985, it was the end of the home-computer boom. Today, it's the slowing growth in PC shipments and inventory build-up."
After two years of growth that began in 1998, the DRAM market will eventually recover, spurred by new product releases, Norwood added.
Fred |
