Compound semiconductor industry revenue growth slowing

BOSTON, USA: Early announcements from compound semiconductor manufacturers Skyworks, RFMD and Freescale all point to revenue declines to close 2011. However, bandwidth consumption and mobile handset sales are still increasing.

The Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service (GaAs) viewpoint, “Compound Semiconductor Industry Review January 2012: Microelectronics,” captures product, technology, contract and financial announcements for these companies, as well as others such as Fujitsu, ANADIGICS, Agilent, Hittite Microwave, TriQuint Semiconductor, Avago, Soitec, Analog Devices and Microsemi.

“Even though we are seeing revenue growth rates slow from some of the larger compound semiconductor manufacturers, this should not set off too many warning bells”, noted Eric Higham, director, Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service. “The need for bandwidth, especially due to ever-increasing sales of mobile handsets, will continue to power revenue growth in the compound semiconductor industry.”

Asif Anwar, director, Strategic Technologies Practice, added: “Revenue is typically the highest in the third quarter as, manufacturers increase production in advance of the holiday season. Despite the declines at the end of the year, Strategy Analytics expects 2012 revenue growth for the industry to be close to the historical average of 6 percent.”