Processors Toolkit

Chip sales show positive trend

Margaret Kane CNET News.com

Published: 29 Oct 2002 15:43 GMT

After a huge drop last year, the global chip market should regain positive ground in 2002, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

The worldwide chip market should grow 2.3 percent in 2002 to $142bn, the industry group said on Tuesday. That matches recent predictions from the Semiconductor Industry Association, another trade group.

However, the WSTS did reduce its earlier predictions for 2003 sales from $173bn to $166bn, pointing to lower expectations for stand-alone chips such as CPUs. The smaller figure represents a 16.6 percent year-over-year increase, compared with the group's earlier prediction of 21.8 percent growth.

The group asserts that chips such as memory found in personal computers or digital signal processors found in cellphones will still show growth rates well above 20 percent in 2003.

The overall chip market should continue to pick up in the following year, WSTS said, with 19.2 percent growth expected in 2004 to $170bn.

Chipmakers suffered through a tremendous plunge in 2001 when year-over-year sales fell 31 percent to $141bn.

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