Semiconductor Market Recovery Projected

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 7 -- An industry-wide recovery is underway, said The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in its 2002 mid-year forecast released this week. Semiconductor sales are expected to increase by 3.1 percent in 2002, with the growth rate accelerating to 23.2 percent in 2003 and 20.9 percent in 2004, SIA said.

"Last year was the most difficult and challenging year in the history of the semiconductor industry," said Dwight W. Decker, chairman and CEO of Conexant Systems Inc. "So far this year, we have seen a significant decline in excess inventory and manufacturing capacity, and the industry has resumed modest sequential growth, indicating that we are in the initial stages of a recovery. Our expectation is that the recovery will gain momentum in the second half of the year and continue with strong growth through 2003 and 2004."

Decker, an SIA board member, presented the mid-year forecast at a luncheon at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City. "While there is still a great deal of economic uncertainty, we currently believe that the semiconductor industry as a whole will grow significantly over the course of the next 10 quarters, driven by increased sales of cellular handsets and PCs, as well as digital consumer electronics applications. The recovery will be led by strong growth in Asia Pacific, as a result of increases in outsourced contract manufacturing and strong regional consumer demand," he said.