IC market now seen shrinking in '12

IC market now seen shrinking in '12

SAN FRANCISCO—A key market watcher is expected to announce Friday (Aug. 24) a downgraded 2012 chip market forecast projecting sales to decline slightly compared to 2011.

Based on weak economic conditions and a corresponding reduction in demand for PCs and other electronics, IHS iSuppli (Englewood, Colo.) now expects semiconductor sales to contract by 0.1 percent compared to 2011. The projection is based on preliminary results from the firm's IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool (AMFT).

Previously, the IHS AMFT had forecast marginal chip market growth of less than 3 percent.

If the projection is accurate, 2012 will mark the first year of decline for the chip market since 2009.

"The expected decline in 2012 represents a major event for the global semiconductor market," said Dale Ford, senior director at IHS.

Several semiconductor market watchers have reduced their forecasts for the 2012 market in recent weeks, including IC Insights Inc., Semico Research Corp. and Future Horizons Ltd. A number of analysts are now projecting that 2012 sales will be roughly flat with 2011, though most market watchers are still projecting growth of 2 to 4 percent for the year.



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