Last week Renesas Electronics announced an agreement to acquire Intersil Corporation for US$3.22 billion. This follows July’s announcement that Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) will acquire Linear Technology Corp. (LTC) for $14.8 billion. These deals will cause a shakeup in the analog IC market. According to IC Insights ranking … Read More
Author: Bill Jewell
Shakeup in Analog Rankings
Semiconductors negative in 2016, positive in 2017
Note: the table and text below have been revised from an earlier post to correct the numbers for STMicroelectronics.
Semiconductor companies posted a wide range of results in 2nd quarter 2016. Intel, Micron Technology and Renesas Electronics all had declines in revenue in 2Q 2016 versus 1Q 2016. Samsung Semiconductor, Qualcomm… Read More
Brexit impact on semiconductors
On July 1, Daniel Nenni posted his thoughts on the impact of Brexit (the vote by the UK to leave the European Union) on semiconductors. In general I agree with his points. Below is my take on the issue.
The long term impact of Brexit is uncertain. The UK will likely negotiate a trade agreement with the EU which includes free trade between… Read More
Semiconductors out of step with electronics
The global semiconductor market has been on a decline (three-month-average change versus a year ago) since July 2015 according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Although numerous factors affect the semiconductor market (capacity and utilization, prices, inventory levels) in the near term, the long term growth… Read More
Semiconductor market going negative?
Several recent forecasts for the 2016 semiconductor market point to a decline. The title of this post is the same as we used for in October 2015. In October, Semiconductor Intelligence projected the market would grow 1.0% in 2015 despite several predictions of the market going negative. 2015 finished with a slight 0.2% decline.… Read More
Semiconductor capital spending slow in 2016
The outlook for semiconductor capital expenditures (capex) in 2016 is weak. Gartner’s January 2016 forecast called for a decline of 4.7%. IC Insights in February projected a 0.8% decline. The table below shows the Gartner forecast along with the capex forecasts from the top three spenders (Intel, Samsung and TSMC) which… Read More
Shifting Asia Electronics Production
Japan emerged as the largest supplier of consumer electronics in the 1980s. The Japan surge was driven by lower cost labor than in the U.S. and Europe as well as innovative products from companies such as Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic (formerly Matsushita). By the 1990s much consumer electronics production shifted to South Korea… Read More
2015 semiconductor market flat, 2016 looking somewhat better
The 2015 semiconductor market finished with a 0.2% decline from 2014, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Optimists will round this to flat with 2014. The flat 2015 follows healthy 9.9% growth in 2014. Going into 2015, forecasts were in the range of 3% to 11%. We at Semiconductor Intelligence were at the high… Read More
CES 2016 is all about the IoT
CES 2016 last week in Las Vegas was a huge success. Over 3800 exhibitors occupied over 2.47 million square feet. Attendance was over 170,000 including 50,000 from outside the U.S. CES (previously Consumer Electronics Show) was put on by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA, previously the Consumer Electronics Association).… Read More
Preview of International CES 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada
Today I attended CES Unveiled, which offers a sneak peak at some of the new products being introduced at International CES 2016. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been hyped as a key driver of electronics market growth over the next few years. There were plenty of examples at CES Unveiled. … Read More
Podcast EP280: A Broad View of the Impact and Implications of Industrial Policy with Economist Ian Fletcher