SIA: Chip sales in-line with historic trends
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NEW YORK, September 30  - Global semiconductor sales increased to $18.2 billion in August this year, representing 34.
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An interactive timeline showing key stages in the development of the chip industry and the digital age.
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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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p&gt;Semiconductor design firm ARM (Quote, Chart) is took a major leap into the embedded microprocessor space by acquiring Artisan Components (Quote, Chart), producer of embedded memory, standard cell, input/output, analog and mixed-signal components.
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Korean chipmaker expects global sales will halve next year; sales growth could be in single digit. SEOUL  - Growth in global semiconductor sales will probably halve next year and memory chip sales
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Over the past six months, the usual strict hierarchies of the chip world have seen some rearranging. Perennial underdog Advanced Micro Devices (AMD:NYSE - news - research) has made impressive strides with
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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.
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Its memory-chip breakthrough could lead to new products.
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A major milestone in microchip production is achieved allowing smaller and higher performance chips.
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Intel'sÂ deal with STMicroelectronics to create a new semiconductor company was a hit this week with IT investors, who continue to reward bold merger and acquisition moves in hard-fought tech markets like chips and Internet services. Rumors of aÂ Salesforce.com hook up with GoogleÂ andÂ Yahoo's continuing search for Web 2.0 companiesÂ also are stoking investor interest.
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Worldwide semiconductor sales totaled $18.8 billion in October, up 1.5% from September and 22% from a year ago, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.
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Global sales of microchips are expected to rise about 10 percent to $273.8 billion this year after increasing 8.9 percent to $247.7 billion in 2006, an industry group said on Friday.
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NEW YORK - Intel certainly surprised many semiconductor industry watchers today with its improving sales forecasts for the current quarter, but not everyone is convinced that all is as rosy as it seems at the world&#39;s biggest chipmaker.
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But late rush still needed to make full year forecast The chip industry is banking on a late surge in demand to meet its full year sales forecast, despite the publicâs insatiable thirst for silicon-heavy kit in November.â¦
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The world's largest chipmaker posts its best quarterly sales figures, boosting optimism about profits in the industry.
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Semiconductor and cell-phone technology converge in fast food.
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The Semiconductor Industry Association, based in San Jose, Calif., says worldwide sales of semiconductors grew 1.1 percent to $18.