Final semiconductor industry results for 2015 will not be available for a few months, but the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) are projecting modest or flat growth for the year.
WSTS forecasts that the worldwide semiconductor market will total $336 billion for 2015, up only a modest 0.2% over 2014. Growth in the Asia-Pacific market will be offset by slight declines in Europe, Japan, and the Americas. Looking forward to 2016, all markets except Europe are expected to show healthy growth.
True to projections this time last year, automotive and wireless communications appear to have outpaced total market growth, while consumer and computer appear to have grown slower than the overall market. In 2015, optoelectronics, sensors, and analog categories grew significantly, but they were offset by declines in discrete, micro, logic, and memory. In 2016, all product categories but memory are expected to grow.
Assuming a rebound in the macro economy, WSTS projects growth of 1.4% to $341 billion for 2016, and slightly more robust growth (3.1%) in 2017 in all categories and regions.
The Americas region is projected to show particularly strong growth in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, WSTS projects $71 billion in semiconductor sales in the Americas— a 21% share of the global market.
What are your predictions about the semiconductor market for the coming year?
