Global chip sales could be flat

New figures suggest 2016 sales would be better than expected and growth is expected to return in 2017.

The semiconductor industry may yet be flat in 2016, a remarkable possibility given the pessimism that colored industry forecasts earlier.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics or WSTS revised its forecast for the year, saying that it now expects 2016 sales to be flat with 2015. The forecast was changed thanks to an industry rebound that culminated with October seeing the largest YoY sales increase since March 2015.

In June, the Semiconductor Industry Association or SIA endorsed a forecast by WSTS that called for semiconductor industry sales to decline by 2.4 percent compared to 2015. At the time, SIA was joining a chorus of market watchers that were predicting that 2016 would be a down year, including influential market research firms such as IHS Inc., Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp.

WSTS now expects 2016 chip sales to be roughly $335 billion, virtually unchanged from 2015. Projected growth of 22 percent in sensors as well as growth in analog, discretes and microprocessors is expected to offset declines in optoelectronics, memory and logic, according to WSTS.

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