Expect Double-Digit Growth In 2003, Says Semiconductor Market Forecast

Compiled ByJill Jusko Sluggish growth in 2002 will give way to double-digit growth in the worldwide semiconductor industry in 2003, according to a new market intelligence report. Revenue will grow 12.1% in 2003 to $171.8 billion, says advisory firm Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn. That's up from projected revenues of $153.3 billion for 2002 and $152.5 billion in 2001, when revenues declined 32% from 2000. A bright spot in the semiconductor market is digital cellular handsets, where growth is expected to be driven by a replacement cycle as the industry shifts to next-generation cellular, Dataquest says. And while personal-computer production growth has stagnated, analysts say a corporate PC replacement cycle is "long overdue and cannot be put off much longer." "A broader-based recovery in electronic equipment production, especially in the wired communications segment, is unlikely to begin until 2004," says Gartner Dataquest analyst Richard Gordon. "2003 is forecast to be a transition year."