12% Growth Forecast for Chip Market

Sales of semiconductors worldwide, recovering from the industry’s longest-running downturn, are expected to reach about $140.8 billion in 1999, a jump of 12.1% over 1998, fueled by sales of PCs and other devices used for Internet access and e-commerce, according to the Semiconductor Industry Assn. That contrasts with an 8.4% decline in 1998 to $125.61 billion, according to year-end figures released in February. “1999 will be the first double-digit year at 12.1% growth since the 41.7% spurt in 1995,” said Wilfred Corrigan, chairman of specialty chip maker LSI Logic Corp. and oversight director of the forecast. “This will also be the first year of recovery of the global semiconductor industry that we have seen since 1995.” The trade group also predicted that the industry would grow an additional 15.4% in 2000 to $162.5 billion in revenue, then 17.6% in 2001 to $191 billion and 12.9% in 2002 to $215.7 billion.