Chip Sales to Fall This Year, Gartner Says in Forecast Reversal
September 15, 2011, 5:48 AM EDTBy Chiara Remondini
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor sales worldwide will decline 0.1 percent this year to $299 billion, research company Gartner Inc. said, reversing a previous forecast that revenue would rise 5.1 percent.
Gartner also lowered its projection for chip sales in 2012, predicting a 4.6 percent increase versus a 8.6 percent gain, citing a worsening economic outlook.
“Three key factors are shaping the short-term outlook: excess inventory, manufacturing overcapacity and slowing demand due to economic weakness,” Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner, said in a statement today. “The odds of a double-dip U.S. recession continue to rise and are raising fear that sales prospects will deteriorate further.”
The research company said on Sept. 8 that global personal- computer shipments will increase less than predicted this year and next as consumers scale back spending. Semiconductor companies’ third-quarter forecasts have been “well below seasonal averages,” Lewis said today.
--Editors: Tom Lavell, Robert Valpuesta
To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
