After Gartner, IHS lifts 2012 semicon forecast

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Due to strong ongoing consumer demand for wireless products like cellphones and media tablets, IHS iSuppli, a market research firm has lifted its forecast for the 2012 semiconductor market.

The research firm is predicting that the total chip sales will reach an estimated $324.6 billion in 2012, up 4.3 per cent from last year. Previously, it had forecasted an increase of 3.3 per cent for the chip market this year, reports Dylan Mcgrath of EETimes.

Gartner had also increased its forecast for the 2012 chip market in March. According to Gartner, chip sales will now increase 4 per cent to $3.16 billion this year. According to the latest IHS forecast, revenue should continue to climb during the next few years, hitting approximately $412.8 billion by 2016.

"Semiconductor revenue growth is expected to rise in 2012 compared to last year as consumers begin to believe that the global economic recovery is for real," said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst of semiconductor manufacturing at IHS.

As per Jelinek, consumer-oriented products like smartphones and tablets would be the biggest drivers of semiconductor demand in 2012.

According to HIS forecast, the three major areas of strength for the semiconductor industry this year will be NAND flash, logic ASICs and microprocessors. But IHS warned that the semiconductor industry is in a tenuous position because inventory remains at high levels, despite the fact that chip suppliers have reduced their inventory by 7.5 per cent over the last six months.