Worldwide semiconductor market falls 9% in 2009 - study

Worldwide semiconductor revenues decreased 9 percent year over year in 2009 to USD 225.1 billion, according to a study by IDC. The industry was hit especially hard in the first half of 2009 due to the global economic downturn. Despite the economic recession, industry leaders held strong and some even eked out gains in revenues and market share compared to 2008, thanks to a sharp snapback in chip demand in the latter half of 2009. Intel, with total semiconductor revenues of USD 33.8 billion in 2009, was at the first position and also increased its share of the semiconductor market by about 1 percent to 15.2 percent. Samsung coming in second saw its semiconductor revenues increase by about 6.7 percent over 2008. For the year, the top five chip suppliers were Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and Qualcomm. Together, these five suppliers maintained about 34.3 percent of the market. Atheros, Cavium, Mediatek, NetLogic, Synaptics, and Richtek enjoyed double digit year-over-year growth in 2009. Dram memory markets also partially bounced back in the second half of 2009, resulting in revenue growth for Samsung, Hynix, Elpida, Micron, and Nanya Technology. Similarly, increased Nand demand in the second half helped Nand suppliers such as Toshiba, Samsung, and Micron. Asia/Pacific, with 49.6 percent share based on semiconductor consumption, remained the leading market for semiconductors in 2009. While growth in Americas was close to flat, all other regions experienced negative year-over-year growth. EMEA declined the most at 18.8 percent, followed closely by Japan at 18.3 percent. Among the vertical markets for semiconductor usage, the computing segment was still the largest at 37.8 percent, followed by wireless with 22.1 percent and consumer with 18.5 percent. Semiconductor inventory checks indicate strong demand in the first half of this year with order rates expected to normalise in the second half of the year, the study said. Assuming there are no macroeconomic shocks to global economy, IDC expects this year to be a banner year, with 16-18 percent year-over-year semiconductor revenue growth.