Global chip market to grow by 20 p.c by 2012

LONDON: The global chip market is set for a growth of more than 20 per cent , spread over the next two years. The growth could even reach over 30 per cent in a single year, according to Malcolm Penn, principal analyst and founder of Future Horizons, the market analysis company based in Sevenoaks, England.

In his opinion, the prolonged lack of capital spending on manufacturing capacity is bound to result in shortages. This shortage, combined with the ever-increasing demand for electronic equipment globally, could make the manufacturers grow by nearly 10 per cent each year.

Malcolm Penn said at a one-day seminar on the prospects for the global chip market that the chip industry cannot introduce any considerable production capacity in 2010. However, there will be two years of very strong growth in sales.

While ASPs have dropped, on an average, by 2.8 per cent per year over the period from 2005 to 2009, they are now set to go up at a CAGR of 4 per cent , Malcolm Penn said.

Penn forecast the growth of the chip market for 2010 at 22 per cent , stressing that it is “almost inconceivable” to him how the market could fall below that level.