Global Chip Sales Seen Bouncing Back

The worldwide market for semiconductors will rise 9.1% to $133.4 billion next year, after a sluggish 1998, when the Asian economic crisis and overcapacity dragged down the industry, the Semiconductor Industry Assn. said. The San Jose-based trade group said in its annual global forecast that global chip sales this year are expected to fall 10.9% to $122 billion. That would mark the first time since 1985 that the entire industry--instead of specific product markets--suffered an overall decline. The rebound next year will be paced by sales of microprocessors, memory chips and digital signal processors, or DSPs, which are used in everything from cellular phones to microwave ovens. The SIA forecast also calls for sales to rise 15.2% in 2000 and 18.25% in 2001.