SAN JOSE, USA: The global semiconductor market is likely to grow 4.7 percent on an annualized basis to $267.7 billion in 2008, according to the spring 2008 forecast of the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Projected growth in the worldwide semiconductor market will increase from 3.2 percent growth in 2007.

The current projections have however been reduced by 4.4 percentage points compared to the forecast that WSTS issued in November last year, mainly due to a weak fourth quarter of 2007.

However, no need was seen to revise the future market development scenario significantly, so that the further years 2009 and 2010 remained very close to the original projections with 5.8 and 8.8 percent growth, respectively.

"The WSTS foresees a continuously growing demand for electronic products such as PCs, digital consumer appliances, mobile communications, and last but not least automotive electronics, enhanced by the increase of semiconductor content per installed system." said Dr. Ulrich Schaefer, Worldwide Chairman of WSTS. He continued, "These trends are expected to unfold in a challenging, yet generally healthy world economy."

The current forecast anticipates a positive growth throughout the forecasting period, peaking in 2010. While the forecasted semiconductor market does not show a pronounced cyclical pattern, some product groups maintain cycles similar to historical patterns. In the long run, the Asia Pacific region continues to be the fastest growing geographical area, due to the dynamics of both strongly rising domestic demand and the continuing manufacturing shift to this region.