SIA: Chip sales to hit record, flatten
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Worldwide semiconductor sales will hit an all-time high in 2004 but stay relatively flat in 2005 before climbing again over the next two years, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) posted record sales and net profit in the fourth quarter as demand for chips in communications, computers, and consumer electronics products soared, the company said Thursday.The world&#39;s largest contract chip maker said sales grew more than 25 percent year-on-year to NT$93.9 billion (US$2.9 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31. Net profit increased nearly 24 percent to NT$34.5 billion. TSMC&#39;s previous sales record was NT$88.96 billion in the third quarter of 2007, while its prior record net profit came in the second quarter of 2006, NT$34.0 billion.TSMC&#39;s fourth quarter sales beat its own guidance in part due to increased demand for more advanced chips made using 90-nanometer, 65-nanometer and even finer manufacturing technologies. A total of 10 percent of TSMC&#39;s sales were for 65-nanometer and below technologies in the fourth quarter, up from 7 percent in the third quarter. The nanometer term describes the size of the smallest feature manufactured on a single chip. There are about three to six atoms in a nanometer, and a billion nanometers in a meter. Reducing the size of the features on a chip enables companies to create smaller, more energy efficient, and more powerful chips.&quot;Demand for advanced technology capacity remained very strong throughout the year,&quot; said Rick Tsai, president and CEO of TSMC, during the company&#39;s investors&#39; conference. &quot;This will continue to grow,&quot; he said.The company forecast strong guidance for the first quarter of this year, saying mobile phone and PC shipment growth should help bolster the chip industry. TSMC is a bellwether for the global IT industry due to the number and variety of chips it produces for a range of electronic gadgets.TSMC predicts its revenue will drop to between NT$87 billion and NT$89 billion in the first quarter, a slimmer decline than analysts had expected.TSMC&#39;s biggest rival, Taiwan&#39;s United Microelectronics predicted a far worse first quarter, with revenue forecast to decline by as much as 15 percent and it may post a loss for the quarter. UMC posted sales of NT$27.6 billion in the fourth quarter, up nearly 6 percent year-over-year, but its net profit fell 76.1 percent to NT$1.36 billion.TSMC joined a number of other chip makers in slashing its capital spending&#160;for this year. The company predicted its 2008 spending on new factories and production line equipment will reach only US$1.8 billion, down from US$2.6 billion last year. UMC forecast its 2008 capital spending at US$500 million to US$700 million, down from US$900 million last year.&quot;In the coming five years, we believe the capital intensity will be lower than the last five years.,&quot; said Lora Ho, TSMC&#39;s chief financial officer, indicating the company expects to spend less in coming years than it has in the past few years.Several&#160;Taiwanese chip makers have already announced significantly lower capital spending&#160;forecasts for this year, due in part to concerns about global economic growth and partly to a glut of DRAM (dynamic RAM) memory chips.&#160;
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Chipmaker reports record sales of server and notebook processors, but net income dips.
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The semiconductor industry will consolidate, with nearly 40 percent of today&#39;s chip vendors disappearing over the next few years, market researcher Gartner said in a forecast released this week.
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Intel Corp. INTC.O, the world's   biggest maker of microchips, is expected to announce major job   cuts on Tuesday as part of a plan to trim $1 billion in costs   and regain its competitive edge, analysts and media reports   said.
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Intel Corp.  will make chips with four processing cores in November the world's biggest microchip maker said on Tuesday as it tries to maintain a lead over rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc..
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The chip maker now expects revenue of between $8.3 billion and $8.6 billion due to lower-than-expected worldwide demand for its processors as well as "customer reductions in component inventory levels."
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Global sales of semiconductors rose 1 percent in July as consumer uncertainty and swelling inventories restrained the industry's pace of growth, the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association reported on Thursday.
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- The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) on  Wednesday slashed its forecast for 2007 global microchip sales  growth citing a decline in the average selling prices in  several key market segments.
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Global semiconductor sales rose 1.1 percent to &#36;18.2 billion in August from the previous month and it appears as though chip inventories are declining, an industry trade group said on Thursday.
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Semiconductor biz feels the pinch as growth falls Chipmakers have fired off a warning that they expect to see the semiconductor industry slow with a predicted sales growth of less than two per cent this year.â¦
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Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 2.2  percent to $20.6 billion in July, an industry group said on  Tuesday, helped by rising demand for consumer electronics.
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(InfoWorld) - The global chip market is suffering from falling prices in microprocessors and memory chips, bad news for companies but great for users. Steep declines in DRAM (dynamic RAM) for PCs and NAND flash memory, used in a variety of gadgets including digital cameras and iPods, as well as microprocessors prompted the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) to slash its global sales forecast for this year to US$252 billion, just 1.8 percent growth compared to last year. The previous estimate called for sales growth of 10 percent this year. Sales of gadgets themselves are on track to meet forecasts, however, SIA said. Chip shipments overall remain healthy, as does end-user demand. But prices continue to fall for a variety of reasons, including a glut in the memory market and a price war between Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in microprocessors. "End markets continue to be strong, with consumers realizing major benefits from lower chip prices coupled with ever-increasing performance and functionality from advances in chip technology. Despite a forecast of slower growth, we expect that global sales of microchips will surpass last yearâs record level," the SIA said in a statement on Wednesday. Intel and AMD have been battling each other through price reductions for over a year now, and reports indicate that Intel will cut prices on some microprocessors again in late July. The price war has been good to consumers, delivering more technically advanced microprocessors at a lower cost. Microprocessors are generally the most expensive chip inside a PC. The DRAM market has been hit the worst. The price of mainstream 512M-bit second-generation double data rate (DDR2) DRAM that runs at 667MHz has plunged 72 percent so far this year to US$1.79 per chip, according to DRAMeXchange Technology Inc., a Taiwanese clearinghouse for the chips. The market research division of the company has noted that the chips appear to be bottoming out, and that prices could tick up a bit later this month. DRAM price reductions for users normally come a few weeks or a month after the spot DRAM market falls. NAND Flash memory has suffered a similar fate as DRAM, but not quite as steep a decline. A glut of the chips early in the year has been wiped out by memory makers, which tweaked production lines to make more DRAM instead of NAND flash. Prices of 8G byte NAND has fallen 18 percent his year to US$9.26, according to DRAMeXchange, while the 4G byte capacity has dropped nearly 15 percent to US$5.69. The SIA expects PC and mobile phone sales to rise 10 percent each this year. Mobile phone sales may give chips a bigger boost, however, because users are buying more 3G (third generation communications) handsets, which contain more chips than older phones. Sales of personal media players and digital music players are expected to grow by more than 20 percent this year, SIA said, but noted that price competition in the market will likely keep NAND flash chip prices tame. The SIA report followsÂ a similar estimation of the global chip industry by Gartner. A few weeks ago, the market researcher lowered its forecast to just 2.5 percent growth to US$269.2 billion this year, down from an earlier estimate of 6.4 percent. Â ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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(InfoWorld) - Worldwide semiconductor sales surged to a record high $20.5 billion in August,Â led by memory chips, particularly DRAM (dynamic RAM) and NAND flash, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Tuesday. Strong PC sales helped boost both DRAM and microprocessor sales, the SIA said. And in a good sign for users, average selling prices for microprocessors fell 18 percent compared to last year due to stiff competition between makers such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Chips used in consumer electronics devices showed strong growth as producers began stocking up ahead of the important holiday season. The sharp decline in gasoline prices has also been an aid, the SIA noted, since consumers can spend their fuel savings on electronic devices instead. The global chip industry derives over half of its revenue from consumer products such as mobile phones, MP3 players, and digital cameras. The August sales record was an increase of 10.5 percent over the same time last year, and 2.1 percent better than July, when chip sales totaled $20.1 billion. The previous record for one-month worldwide chip sales was $20.4 billion, set in November of last year.
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Samsung Electronics Co., the world&#39;s second-largest semiconductor maker, said it expects global chip sales next year to grow at half of this year&#39;s pace on increased supply from new plants coming online.
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Worldwide semiconductor sales rose a scant 1.5 percent in October, to $18.8 billion from $18.5 billion in September, as many chip users pared bloated inventories, the Semiconductor Industry Association said on Friday.
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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.