Global Semiconductor Revenues Is Expected to Reach $318 Billion, up 5% in 2012

In the computing market, some facts, this year Intel and AMD release Sandy Bridge and Fusion APU, together with business users continue to use Windows 7, will help to accelerate the PC replacement cycle and promote the next year’s demand of semiconductor. On the other side, because of the impact of tablet PCs, the demand of mobile PC is expected to slow down. On the whole, computing market will take up the 40% of the overall semiconductor revenue. Next year’s growth rate and CAGR from 2010 to 2015 will be 4% and 5%, respectively.

According to the latest forecast from IDC, a market researcher International Data Corp., the next year global semiconductor market revenue will grow 5%, account for $318 billion; while, it will continue to grow with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%, and till 2015, the revenue will achieve $378 billion.

Although there are still worries about the development of global economy, including consumption weak caused by high unemployment rate in U.S, the debt crisis of some European countries, high inflation in China and India, etc., we should hold positive attitude towards semiconductor industry. Still, "long-term secular growth driven by end applications such as smart phones, media tablets, mobile PCs, set top boxes,LCD TVs, wired networks, industrial automation, and automotive infotainment remains strong," IDC research manager Mali Venkatesan said.

In the computing market, although the rapid growth of the smartphones market, it has brought continued price pressure for fundamental frequency and related communications chips, especially in the low-end market. IDC believes the continues increase of IP traffic, cloud computing, a new generation of cable networks, created by the extensive application of smartphones, will be the important element to promote the long-term development of semiconductor market. It is expected the growth rate of 2012 and CAGR from 2010 to 2015 will both grow 7%.

In spite that the tablet computer, e-book reader, and LED / LCD TV has strong growth, the decline of traditional consumer products, like DVD players and game consoles, makes the annual growth rate of this market only maintain 5%.

Automotive and industrial applications markets totally account for 16% of the overall semiconductor revenue. Driven by Telematics systems, security and detection systems, engine control, energy management, networking (M2M), smart grid, LED lighting and factory automation applications, it is expected that next year's growth rate and the CAGR of 2010-2015 will increase 5% and 8%, separately.