Slumping semiconductor sales may have ended in 2012, IHS iSuppli says.
Global semiconductor revenues will grow 4.9 percent to $315 billion in 2013, according to IDC.
Intel's 22nm processors, better known as Ivy Bridge, are fresh out of the fab and have given the Santa Clara's Core architecture a kick in the pants. But is the successor to Sandy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E already old news? Not exactly, though a peek at Intel's Research & Development roadmap reveals that a 14nm manufacturing process is already in development, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Well, well, well, the latest version of the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiconductor Applications Forecaster (SAF) is something that PC doomsayers can shove right in their ill-informed pie holes. According to IDC, the worldwide semiconductor market grew by 3.7 percent in 2011 to $301 billion, and barring any unforeseen events, IDC expects the market to grow another 6-7 percent in 2012 with Intel leading the way. That's hardly the sign of a shrinking market, though mobile is playing a big role as well.
In 2010, the semiconductor spending crown belonged to Hewlett-Packard, more than logical considering HP is the world's largest PC manufacturer. But in 2011, it was Apple that took the No. 1 spot by spending nearly $17.3 billion on semiconductors, up a whopping 34.6 percent over what it spent in 2010 and enough to grab hold of 5.7 percent of the total semiconductor market, according to data released by market research firm Gartner.
One thing you can't say about Globalfoundries is that it's afraid to spend money. After being spun-off from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in 2009, the contract chip maker went on to spend $8 billion through 2011 and now plans to spend an additional $3 billion on fabs and related equipment, with most of the funds going towards finishing a plant in New York and filling it with equipment.
According to Gartner's preliminary figures, worldwide semiconductor revenue grew just 0.9 percent from 2010, topping out at $302 billion in 2011. After a strong start to the year, the semiconductor market was on pace to grow at a greater clip than less than 1 percent, but then buyers worried about the strength of the economy started to cut back orders for equipment and semiconductors, Gartner says.
The sky isn't falling or anything like that, but worldwide semiconductor spending won't be quite as high as previously thought, according to market research firm Gartner. The psychic bean counters at Gartner now believe semiconductor spending in 2012 will reach $309 billion worldwide, a 2.2 percent increase from 2011, but down from Gartner's previous forecast of 4.6 percent growth.
Anyone who plays sports knows the exhilaration and utter joy of watching your opponents build up a glimmer of hope, right before you crush their spirits and beat them back to reality. Michael Jordan did it all the time, and if there's an equivalent in the tech industry, it has to be Intel, the world's largest chip maker and by far the most dominant player on the court at this point in its career.
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