IC sales came in much higher than anyone expected in April; they were 14 percentage points above the six-year rolling average, making it the hottest April in recorded history. Obviously, this wasn’t difficult to achieve given that IC sales were coming off dismal levels, following the unprecedented collapse in the 4Q08. But trends are encouraging.
Source: VLSI Research Inc. Chip Making MarketsAs VLSI’s Weekly IC Tracker chart shows, the IC market bottomed at the end of January and it has been steadily rising ever since. Moreover, several indicators are pointing to continued improvement for the IC market.
VLSI’s Chip Price Performance Index (CPPI) —- one of our most reliable leading indicators -- has been red hot in the last four months and it’s currently sitting at a record high for the year. Its rise shows that the market fundamentals for ICs are improving, something that the latest monthly numbers have confirmed.
So far the IC recovery has been driven by inventory replenishment, capacity reductions, and more recently consumer demand in Asia. VLSI expects demand to improve in the second half of the year with Windows 7 and next generation smartphones becoming significant drivers.
Microsoft recently confirmed that Windows 7 will hit store shelves in October, just in time for the crucial holiday season. There is a lot of pent up demand from both consumers and businesses, who have postponed their hardware upgrades in the last two years due to Vista’s lackluster performance and its incompatibility with other programs.
The early reviews of Windows 7 have been outstanding, so we will likely see very fast adoption rates. Smart phones have also become a bright spot for IC demand due to the increasing unit volumes and rich IC content. In fact, their sales have risen considerably despite a soft macroeconomic environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.