Worldwide silicon chip sales for 2000 likely will top $200 billion for the first time, the Semiconductor Industry Association, San Jose, Calif., projected last week.
“The chip industry remains on track to achieve sales of $205 billion in 2000,” said George Scalise, president of the SIA.
“That is an increase of 37.1 percent over 1999 and the first time annual industry sales will exceed $200 billion.”
During November, the latest complete month for which figures are available, semiconductor sales reached $18.28 billion, a 28.4-percent increase over the same month of 1999.
Product sectors that experienced strong growth in November included flash memory, standard cell and communications-specific integrated circuits. These components are used in mobile phones, Internet infrastructure, personal digital assistants and other communications and consumer electronics products.
During the first 11 months of 2000, the Japanese market for semiconductors grew by 38.9 percent, the Americas market by 30 percent, the European market by 24.1 percent and the Asia/Pacific market by 20.9 percent.
As a leading indicator of future growth in semiconductors, The Information Network, a market research company based in New Tripoli, Pa., said Jan. 3, it expects a “boom for IC equipment manufacturers in 2001.”
Worldwide revenues for semiconductor processing equipment rose 31.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2000 and will grow an additional 45.9 percent during 2001, according to projections in The Information Network’s new report, “The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing.”
