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Global semiconductor industry to post sales of US$316b this year2014-08-31 15:12 WorldWay
SINGAPORE : The global semiconductor industry is set to grow 5 to 10 percent this year to hit sales of US$316 billion.
It is coming in for a soft landing from a dizzying 32 percent growth last year, as the industry recovered from the 2009 financial crisis. This is according to SEMI, a global industry association, at a conference in Singapore. Demand for tablets and smartphones are still driving growth in the semicon industry as consumer confidence surge and electronic retailers ring up quick sales worldwide. Rod Morgan, Co-executive Officer, IM Flash Technologies, said: "With regard to tablets, we do anticipate over the next 3 to 5 years there will be a significant amount of growth, I think in 2010, there were somewhere around 20 million devices sold. And it is expected to be in 2011, somewhere around 200 million. So that's a significant growth." Despite the strong consumer demand, analysts are keeping a close eye on how Japan's recent earthquake plays out for the industry. Dan Tracy, Senior Director, Industry Research - SEMI, said: "I think the impact of Japan on semiconductor revenues is really currently unknown. Some analysts are saying that it could result in shortage of some devices and actually drive up the average selling price, and perhaps contribute to increase revenues for the year and other analysts are saying that there could be a downside." And Japan's disaster has also highlighted the importance of diversifying supply chains into countries like Singapore or Taiwan. Chong Joon-woon, Deputy Director - Electronics, Economic Development Board, said: "From this tragedy, they (now) talked about what are the supply chain disruptions to the whole electronics and semiconductor industry. So I think the companies will sit up, they will start thinking of what's the best way to optimise their global footprint. Singapore is the second largest city in terms of wafer capacity, just after Hsinchu in Taiwan." For the first time, the Semicon conference is also looking to help fill the 2,600 electronics jobs in Singapore by having a career fair offering more than a hundred related jobs. Major companies like Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, IM Flash Technology and Micron are all represented. |
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