KUALA LUMPUR: Growth forecast for global semiconductor sales for 2012 has been cut after the October sales recorded a 1.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) decline, according to the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
In a statement on Monday, the SIA said global semiconductor sales slipped 0.1% month-on-month in October to US$25.7 billion (RM80.7 billion) from US$25.8 billion in September.
The SIA said it was endorsing the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics’ (WSTS) Autumn 2011 forecast which cut its global sales growth projection to 1.3% or US$302 billion in 2011 and 2.6% or US$310 billion in 2012.
WSTS had previously forecast a growth rate of 5.4% for 2011 and 7.6% for 2012.
SIA president Brian Toohey said that despite a challenging global economic environment this year and the natural disasters that had impacted production in Asia, the semiconductor industry had demonstrated impressive resilience.
“The growing level of semiconductor content embedded across a wide range of consumer, industrial, business and government applications points to continued growth in 2012 and 2013,” he said.
RHB Research said in a note yesterday that demand for chips would likely remain subdued as order visibility remained limited due to the slowdown in Europe.
The 1.8% y-o-y decline in global chip sales marked the fourth consecutive drop on a y-o-y basis since July and thus did not provide any optimism that a recovery was in sight, it said.
The research house maintained its “underweight” call on the sector as recent indications by major tech players like Maxim, a key customer of local packaging players, have highlighted persistent hesitance by electronic manufacturers to volume loading.
This has caused growing uncertainty on the industry outlook, it added.
RHB Research said global chip sales growth remained lukewarm as demand in the broader market was weak particularly in PCs and consumer electronics despite strong volume growth in communication devices.
However, recent retail sales data from the US has indicated that there may be a possible recovery in consumer spending and a slight pick-up in equipment spending, it said.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 7, 2011.
In a statement on Monday, the SIA said global semiconductor sales slipped 0.1% month-on-month in October to US$25.7 billion (RM80.7 billion) from US$25.8 billion in September.
The SIA said it was endorsing the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics’ (WSTS) Autumn 2011 forecast which cut its global sales growth projection to 1.3% or US$302 billion in 2011 and 2.6% or US$310 billion in 2012.
WSTS had previously forecast a growth rate of 5.4% for 2011 and 7.6% for 2012.
SIA president Brian Toohey said that despite a challenging global economic environment this year and the natural disasters that had impacted production in Asia, the semiconductor industry had demonstrated impressive resilience.
“The growing level of semiconductor content embedded across a wide range of consumer, industrial, business and government applications points to continued growth in 2012 and 2013,” he said.
RHB Research said in a note yesterday that demand for chips would likely remain subdued as order visibility remained limited due to the slowdown in Europe.
The 1.8% y-o-y decline in global chip sales marked the fourth consecutive drop on a y-o-y basis since July and thus did not provide any optimism that a recovery was in sight, it said.
The research house maintained its “underweight” call on the sector as recent indications by major tech players like Maxim, a key customer of local packaging players, have highlighted persistent hesitance by electronic manufacturers to volume loading.
This has caused growing uncertainty on the industry outlook, it added.
RHB Research said global chip sales growth remained lukewarm as demand in the broader market was weak particularly in PCs and consumer electronics despite strong volume growth in communication devices.
However, recent retail sales data from the US has indicated that there may be a possible recovery in consumer spending and a slight pick-up in equipment spending, it said.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 7, 2011.
