Outlook for chip gear dims
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TOKYO Global sales of semiconductor equipment will fall short of forecasts this year and shrink next year, according to a survey of manufacturers released Wednesday.
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(InfoWorld) - A major semiconductor industry group warned that an economic slowdown could crimp sales of chips used in consumer devices, while GartnerÂ on Sunday said a global chip glut is worsening. Despite recording a fourth consecutiveÂ record high level of monthly chip salesÂ in October of $21.9 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) warned that greater dependance on sales of consumer electronics devices such as MP3 music players and digital cameras means the chip industry could face a downturn if an economic slowdown occurs. The global industry group said recent signs of such an economic slowdown could foretell slower chip growth in coming months. Sales for now, however, remain brisk ahead of the holiday season, the SIA said, with 9.2 percent growth in October compared to the same time last year. Sales were strongest to Europe. Market researcher GartnerÂ said production lines are churning out fewer chips than they could, and that the slowdown reflects an increase in inventory levels similar to 2004, when a glut caused a downturn in the industry. Specifically, global factory utilization rates, which measure the amount of chips a factory churns out compared to its total capacity, dropped to 88.6 percent in the third quarter from 91.2 percent in the second quarter, while in advanced, 12-inch (300 millimeter) factories, utilization rates fell to 87.9 percent in the third quarter, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2004, when the rate bottomed at 87.3 percent, Gartner says. "So, it is looking more and more as though 2006 is repeating the inventory increase/production cutbacks seen in 2004," wrote Gartner analyst Bob Johnson in a report. He predicts that companies will slow down on factory expansion going into 2007.
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Chipmaker to focus on technology and features instead of megahertz.
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Global sales of chip equipment are expected to fall 5.2 percent next year, an industry group said Wednesday in a sharp reversal of its midyear forecast of 24 percent growth.
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MAKUHARI, Japan  - Global chip equipment sales are  expected to fall 5.15 percent in 2005, an industry group said  on Wednesday in a sharp reversal from its July forecast of  growth of 23.98 percent.
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The issue: 65-nm and 45-nm chip components have shrunk so far that they are now smaller than the wavelength of the light used to carve those features onto silicon chips. To fight that trend, AMD and IBM said they will use three new technologies to boost manufacturing efficiency.
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With perhaps a month to go before launch, the next big computer chip remains a bit of a mystery, and so every shift in strategy by longtime rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices is being teased for hints of the battle to come.
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LONDON (CBS.MW) - Growth in global chip sales is likely to halve in 2005, Samsung Electronics said on Monday, according to reports.
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Gartner says 2004 is likely to be one of the best years for the semiconductor capital gear market, but next year isn't looking quite so hot.
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Sunnyvale, Calif.-- Advanced Micro Devices will take the high road and the low road in the chip market. Executives at the company&#39;s annual analyst meeting in Sunnyvale Friday outlined a strategy that will, ideally
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Micron Technology Inc.  on Friday forecast that prices for memory chips used in consumer electronics would be down 30 percent to 40 percent this quarter from the previous one.
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Applied Materials, the world's largest producer of chip-making equipment, says it has benefited from higher orders but warns demand is likely to wane next year.
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But chip production costs won't fall as much as planned
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Industry analysts have served notice that the double-digit growth of the PC industry is slowing, which has already had an effect on the growth rates of the chip industry, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
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Is the chip giant bargain-shopping or just wasting money?
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Few people today are buying UMPCs, but a new chip and lower prices could help by early 2008.
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(InfoWorld) - Strong demand for semiconductors has prompted chip makers to spend more on production line equipment than anticipated so far this year, an analyst from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said Tuesday. The chip equipment market is on pace to grow 20 percent this year to over $39 billion, said Dan Tracy, senior director of industry research and statistics at SEMI. That figure is higher than the 18 percent year-on-year growth the industry organization forecast in July. The growth rate will make 2006 the second strongest year ever for the industry, after its peak year in 2000. Sales of materials used in the chip making process, such as silicon wafers, are also growing faster than anticipated, Tracy said, and will likely reach a 10 percent year-on-year growth rate, higher than the 7 percent rate SEMI had previously forecast. Japan remains on pace to be the biggest spender on chip equipment this year, accounting for around a fifth of all purchases, followed by Taiwan and South Korea. Around half of all new chip factory projects are in Asia, Tracy said. But there is danger in the strong spending trend. Around 40 percent of all new production lines currently being built will start churning out chips in late 2007, potentially flooding the market with supply, Tracy said. SEMI predicts spending on new chip equipment in 2007 will be flat compared to this year.