Deeper recession set to end in 2010, claims SIA

But short-term forecasts predict that a dismal year lies ahead for the global semi-conductor sector

By Nick Booth

27 Nov 2008

Be the first to comment

  • Digg
  • Tweet
George Scalise
George Scalise: Our fortunes are tied to consumer spending

The recession is far worse than anticipated, but will be over by late-2009, according to new figures from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The SIA’s annual forecast of global semiconductor sales makes gloomy reading, mooting the first decline in sales since 2001.

Although the recession arguably started in 2008, sales forecasts are still 2.2 per cent up on the same period in 2007.

Further reading

However, sales in this quarter are predicted to fall by 5.9 per cent on this time last year. Crucially, this is historically a strong quarter for the microelectronics industry, with product launches timed to coincide with the Christmas season.

Business will get a lot worse next year, according to SIA predictions. Based on its projected sales figures, 2009 will see a decline of 5.6 per cent to $246.7bn (£167bn).

“The global economic turmoil is clearly having a significant impact on semiconductor sales,” said SIA president George Scalise.

“Our fortunes are tied to consumer spending, which now drives more than half the world’s semiconductor sales.”

However, the SIA anticipates growth will resume in 2010. Sales will increase by 7.4 per cent in 2010 to $264.9bn and by 7.5 per cent in 2011 to $284.7bn.

Despite this, UK players were not impressed. No one really knows when a recession will end, said Enta Technologies business manager Mike Barron.

A better approach would be to find solutions suited to the current climate, he argued.

Meanwhile, Enta Technologies and Nvidia joined forces with dealer group Brigantia to create a new theme for Brigantia’s annual industry event, which took place last week.

The roadshow demonstrated how vendors will work with the channel in the future. The emphasis was on repairing and upgrading systems for end users, rather than trying to sell them new ones.

“Tweaks and upgrades save a customer money and actually offer the system builder a better margin,” explained Barron.

“Putting in new memory, or a new GPU, often adds a lot more value and saves them the time it would take to reconfigure a new system.

“The large vendors, such as Microsoft, are increasingly interested in the independents. The days of chucking out a system and buying a new one are over,” he added.

display:none
Loading
We won't publish your address
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms & Conditions

Your comment will be moderated before publication.

Will Apple's attitude to the channel change in 2012?

48%

26%

25%

1%

CRN Partner Connect 2012

CRN Partner Connect logo

CRN's premier networking event is back on 17 May at the Ricoh Arena

Date: Thu 17 May 2012

CRN Fight Night 2012

One of the fights from CRN Fight Night 2010

Channel fighters preparing to square up once more on 24 May

Date: Thu 24 May 2012

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Submit your email address and we'll send a link to a personal newsletter control panel

fragment image

The mobile enterprise: Secure the data, not the device

The proliferation of endpoint devices within the enterprise has highlighted the shortcomings of one of the traditional approaches to data security

fragment image

Measuring the ROI of Google Apps

This Forrester report compares the costs and benefits of legacy email and productivity software with Google Apps


Dave the dealer blog

Dave the dealer

Clocking off

Dave discovers that rozzers are seemingly living in the technology dark ages

View from the channel

Views from the Channel

Departing CEO has done Dixons a service

Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived

To send to more than one email address, simply separate each address with a comma.