In August 2022, U.S. President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to provide incentives for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. In a case of creating the acronym first and then finding a name to fit, CHIPS stands for Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors. The act provides a total… Read More
Semiconductors Headed Toward Strong 2024
The global semiconductor market is now solidly in a turnaround. WSTS revised its data for 2Q 2023 growth over 1Q 2023 to 6.0% from 4.2% previously. 3Q 2023 was up 6.3% from 2Q 2023. With our Semiconductor Intelligence forecast of 3% growth in 4Q 2023, the year-to-year growth in 4Q 2023 will be a positive 6%. This will set the stage for… Read More
Electronics Production Trending Up
Production of electronic devices is finally on the uptrend following a post-pandemic slump in late 2021. According to IDC, smartphone shipments versus a year ago turned negative in 3Q 2021 at -6%. The decline hit a low of -18% in 4Q 2022. Since then, smartphones have been recovering. IDC data is not yet available, but Canalys estimated… Read More
Nvidia Number One in 2023
Nvidia will likely become the largest semiconductor company for the year 2023. We at Semiconductor Intelligence (SC-IQ) estimate Nvidia’s total 2023 revenue will be about $52.9 billion, passing previous number one Intel at an estimated $51.6 billion. Nvidia’s 2023 revenue will be almost double its 2022 revenue on the strength… Read More
Turnaround in Semiconductor Market
The global semiconductor market grew 4.2% in 2Q 2023 versus 1Q 2023, according to WSTS. The 2Q 2023 growth was the first positive quarter-to-quarter change since 4Q 2021, a year and a half ago. Versus a year ago, the market declined 17.3%, an improvement from a 21.3% year-to-year decline in 1Q 2023. Semiconductor market year-to-year… Read More
Has Electronics Bottomed?
The current slump in the electronics market began in 2021. Smartphone shipments versus a year earlier turned negative in 3Q 2021. The smartphone market declines in 2020 were primarily due to COVID-19 related production cutbacks. The current smartphone decline is due to weak demand. According to IDC, smartphone shipments were… Read More
Semiconductor CapEx down in 2023
Semiconductor capital expenditures (CapEx) increased 35% in 2021 and 15% in 2022, according to IC Insights. Our projection at Semiconductor Intelligence is a 14% decline in CapEx in 2023, based primarily on company statements. The biggest cuts will be made by the memory companies, with a 19% drop. CapEx will drop 50% at SK Hynix… Read More
Steep Decline in 1Q 2023
The global semiconductor market dropped 8.7% in 1st quarter 2023 versus 4th quarter 2022, according to WSTS. This was the steepest quarter-to-quarter decline since a 14.7% drop in 1Q 2019. 1Q 2023 was down 21.3% from a year earlier, the largest year-to-year decline in thirteen years since a 30.4% drop in 1Q 2009. Revenues of the … Read More
Electronics Production in Decline
Shipments of PCs and smartphones were weak in 2022 and continue to decline in 2023. For the first quarter of 2023, IDC estimated PC shipments dropped 29% from a year earlier. This follows a 28% year-to-year decline in 4Q 2022. For the year 2022, PC shipments declined 16% from 2021, the largest year-to-year decline in the history of… Read More
Automotive Lone Bright Spot
Automotive appears to be about the only bright spot in the semiconductor market for 2023. Forecasts for the overall semiconductor market range from a decline of 4% to a decline of 20%. Semiconductor companies generally have bleak outlooks for the start of 2023, citing excess inventories ad weak end market demand. The chart below… Read More