Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (34927)	10/31/2000 10:10:46 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Global Chip Market Seen Rising 20.3 Percent in 2001 By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO (Reuters) - The world semiconductor market is set to grow in value by 20.3 percent in 2001 from a year earlier to $250.02 billion, driven by Internet expansion and brisk demand for cell phones, a Japanese industry group said on Tuesday. The projection, based on a statistics from the world's major semiconductor makers, was in line with a previous forecast of 20.2 percent growth, despite emerging concern about weakening demand for chips. The Electronics Industries Association of Japan said it expected the global chip market in 2000 to climb 39.2 percent to $207.89 billion, up from its May forecast of a 30.6 percent rise. The estimate was tabulated by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, which represents 68 chip makers such as Intel Corp, NEC Corp, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Winbond Electronics ``Chip demand earlier this year was very strong thanks to soaring demand for flash memories used in cell phones and DRAMs (dynamic random access memories) used in personal computers,'' Osamu Yamashiro, head of WSTS Japan told reporters. ``Healthy chip growth is expected in 2001 on strong demand for both wireless and wire telecommunications devices worldwide.'' Despite roaring chip demand earlier this year, DRAM prices have begun falling since mid-year, due in part to weakening cellular telephone sales and a slowdown in computer sales in the U.S. Asked whether the recent DRAM price drop was factored into the latest estimate, Yamashiro said: ``Because we represent chip producers, we cannot comment on product prices, but the revised estimate reflected the latest outlooks of chip makers.'' Investor worries about falling global chip demand, fuelled by Intel's sales estimate cut in September, have sent shares in global semiconductor makers down sharply in the recent months. ``Chip producers are concerned about the overall weakness in high-tech stocks because this could potentially slow down global economies,'' another WSTS official said. However, the estimates -- compiled into the consensus projection -- showed wider differences than for the previous report in May in terms of forecasting when the global chip market would hit a bottom, he said. Some expected demand to be at its poorest in 2002 and others in 2003. Steady Rises In 2002, the worldwide semiconductor market is expected to rise by 11.1 percent to $277.68 billion, against a previous forecast of a 13.6 percent rise to $266.29 billion. It is seen growing in 2003 by 10.4 percent to $306.67 billion, against a previous estimate of 8.5 percent to $288.98 billion). The market for DRAMs will increase by 28.7 percent to $41.65 billion in 2001 after jumping a steep 56.2 percent to $32.36 billion in 2000, the WSTS said. In May, it forecast a 28.6 percent rise to $36.50 billion in 2001 and a 37 percent rise to $28.37 billion in 2000 after a jump of 47.8 percent in 1999. The WSTS estimated the growth rate of the DRAMs market at 9.5 percent in 2002 to $45.60 billion, and 9.3 percent in 2003 to $49.84 billion. In May, it forecast a 14.9 percent rise to $42 billion in 2002 and 6.9 percent rise to $44.8 billion in 2003. The following is a breakdown of chip markets by region in billions of dollars with percentage change from a year earlier: 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 +America 47.48 64.75 77.20 84.99 93.16 Asia/Pacific 37.18 53.29 65.24 73.62 82.51 Europe 31.88 42.95 51.40 57.07 63.00 Japan 32.84 46.91 56.17 62.00 68.01 Total 149.38 207.89 250.02 277.68 306.67 +American includes North America and Latin America.