Double-digit growth forecast for all but two IC products in 2010

SCOTTSDALE, USA: In a dramatic turnaround from 2009, 26 out of 28 IC product segments will show not only growth, but double-digit growth in 2010, according to the forecast in IC Insights' recently released Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report 2010.Source: IC Insights, USA.

Only two categories — ROM and EPROM — are forecast to decline. This scenario is completely opposite from last year, which saw 26 of 28 products segments decline in revenue. Flash memory and telecom—application-specific analog were the only two segments to post gains in 2009.

Spurred by a 15 percent increase in unit demand and a huge 55 percent upswing in average selling price, the DRAM market is forecast to lead all categories with 79 percent market growth in 2010, as shown in Fig. 1 above.

The market for automotive-related ICs is also forecast to show a marked improvement in 2010. After taking a beating when cars sales plummeted during the recent recession, the markets for automotive-related ICs—special purpose logic and application-specific analog—are forecast to rebound with growth in excess of 40 percent in 2010.

IC Insights forecasts 10 product segments will outpace the 30 percent growth forecast for the overall IC market. Six of these 10 categories are forecast to be analog products.

According to the Mid-Year Update, many industry conditions are coming together in 2010 to put upward pressure on average selling prices and boost sales for most IC products.

A big drop in capital spending in 2008 and 2009 coupled with the closure of aging wafer fabs has resulted in a very high (>93 percent) wafer fab capacity utilization rate, just as demand for IC units continues due to an expected 11 percent increase in electronic systems sales in 2010.