The worldwide economic outlook is chaotic due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The outlook for the semiconductor market is also very uncertain. 1Q 2020 revenue versus 4Q 2019 was mixed for major semiconductor companies, ranging from a 19% decline for STMicroelectronics to 9.9% growth from Kioxia (previously Toshiba Semiconductor).
Author: Bill Jewell
Is the Worst Over for Semiconductors?
COVID-19 and Semiconductors
The threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus) is continuing to spread. As of March 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 179,111 confirmed cases and 7,426 deaths. WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic as of March 11. Many countries have imposed severe restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, ranging from banning of large … Read More
Semiconductor Recovery in 2020?
Semiconductors down 12% in 2019
World Semiconductor Trades Statistics (WSTS) reported the world semiconductor market in 2019 was $412 billion, a 12.1% decline from $469 billion in 2018. Most of the decline was in the memory market (primarily DRAM and Flash) which was down a third from a year ago. However overall semiconductor … Read More
CES 2020: Still no Flying Cars
CES 2020 is being held this week in Las Vegas with over 4,500 exhibiting companies and over 175,000 attendees. The show includes a broader industry than just electronics, which led to it being renamed CES (previously the Consumer Electronics Show) and the sponsoring organization changing its name from the Consumer Electronics… Read More
U.S.-China trade war continues
The trade dispute between the U.S. and China continues to drag on. According to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened to raise tariffs further on Chinese imports if no deal is reached. Tariffs affecting most consumer electronics imports from China are scheduled to go into effect on December 15, according to… Read More
Semiconductors back to growth in 2020
The global semiconductor market is headed for the largest decline in 18 years. The market dropped 32% in 2001 when the Internet bubble burst. The 2019 decline should be around 15%, the third largest annual drop after 2001 and a 17% drop in 1985. The current weakness is largely due to excess memory capacity (DRAM and NAND flash) relative… Read More
Double-digit semiconductor decline in 2019
The global semiconductor market is headed for a double-digit decline for the year 2019 after a decline of 15.6% in first quarter 2019 from fourth quarter 2018. According to WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics) data, this was the largest quarter-to-quarter decline since a 16.3% decline in first quarter 2009, ten years … Read More
Trade war shifts electronics production
The U.S. is showing steady growth in electronics production. Three-month-average change versus a year ago (3/12) in March 2019 was 6.2%, the 12[SUP]th[/SUP] consecutive month of growth above 5%. China electronics production is decelerating, with March 2019 3/12 growth of 8.2%, similar to 8.3% in February. This marks the first… Read More
Semiconductor Market Downturn in 2019
The global semiconductor market grew 13.7% in 2018, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Each year, we at Semiconductor Intelligence review semiconductor forecasts and compare them to the final WSTS data. We used projections which were publicly released from late 2017 through early 2018, prior to the … Read More
CES 2019 A New Era
CES 2019 was held this week in Las Vegas and had over 4500 exhibiting companies and over 180,000 attendees. Over 6500 media and industry analysts attended (including yours truly of Semiconductor Intelligence). CES 2019 includes a broader industry than just electronics, which led to the show being renamed CES (previously the … Read More
More Headwinds – CHIPS Act Chop? – Chip Equip Re-Shore? Orders Canceled & Fab Delay