Search

Two of the driving forces in the IC industry today are capacity and production (output). The 1990s have thus far experienced both extremes of the capacity spectrum. While the 1993-1995 […]

IC INSIGHTS In early September, it appeared that U.S. economic and worldwide IC industry recoveries were set to begin and IC manufacturers such as RF Micro Devices, Analog Devices, TSMC, […]

As the half-year mark came and went, it was clear that in 2001 the industry would see the largest year-over-year percentage decline ever recorded. IC Insights has calculated that in […]

Over the past 30 years, the IC industry has encountered six boom-bust cycles. The downturn portion of an IC industry cycle is usually accompanied or triggered by one, two or […]

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES IC industry cycles from 1971 to the present. IC Insights, Scottsdale, Ariz., refers to this 30-year time period as the 'modern' IC industry. Although data from 1958 […]

The application specific IC (ASIC) industry has received a great deal of attention over the past few years (probably second only to the highly volatile DRAM market). Much of this […]

The fastest-growing application for ICs from 1993 to 1999 was communications. That sector registered an annual growth rate of 19 percent, followed by the computer and automotive IC market sectors, […]

Worldwide economic conditions create a positive or negative environment for the semiconductor industry. Although the historical correlation between worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) growth and semiconductor industry growth has been […]

The worldwide electronics industry is composed of many different sub-industries. At the top of the food chain is the total electronic-systems segment with 1997 sales of $770 billion. With a […]

Strategic partnerships: critical to foundry success Bill McClean, president, IC Insights, Scottsdale, AZ The IC foundry market will exhibit high growth over the next few years; however, the increasingly long […]

There is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the near-term direction of the worldwide economy, the electronics industry and the semiconductor market. Overall, early Q3 figures for all […]

The first field-programmable logic devices (PLDs) were introduced about 25 years ago. The benefits of using programmable logic are shorter time-to-market and reduction of risk. This has been true for […]

In 2008, 2.5% global GDP growth will be 31% below the 30-year long-term average of 3.6%, while 2009 global GDP growth is expected to be only 1.0%-1.6 percentage points under […]

Congratulations on an excellent May 2005 issue. I love it when the semiconductor companies get attention. As an old Analog Devices guy (now a consultant), I still like to compare […]

Recently, a compound semiconductor IC foundry industry has emerged, trying to do for the GaAs and InP businesses what UMC and TSMC have done for the silicon world. Several companies […]

Typically, semiconductors are not stand-alone products and must be incorporated into electronic systems to function. It is the ebb and flow of this fundamental relationship between the electronic system and […]

What a difference a year makes in the IC industry. The headline we wrote a year ago read, 'Cycle 6 Downturn Hits Hard.' With most of the first quarter of […]

How did an all-time record decline of more than 30 percent occur in the semiconductor market in 2001? Clearly, the 2001 global economic recession played a significant part, but the […]

The IC and electronic-systems industries operate in their respective environments, each of which exerts its own basic supply and demand market forces. Although inextricably tied to one another, the IC […]

This article presents an economic forecast for the semiconductor industry in 2009. It is expected to be a very difficult year for the semiconductor industry. Analysts expect no growth in worldwide electronic sales in 2009. There will still be a demand for chips, but unit growth will decline from 9 percent in 2008. There were will be about 25 to 30 percent decline in memory makers' share of the overall equipment spending.

Presents an outlook of several industry analysts for the semiconductor industry in 2005. Frank Dickson from In-Stat; Dan Hutcheson from VLSI Research; Bill McClean from IC Insights; Carl Johnson from Infrastructure.

Examines the lessons learned from past development stages in the market for integrated chips. Examination of integrated-chip industry cycles since 1971; Impact of inventory burns, global recessions and overcapacity on the industry; Factors that contribute to the cyclical nature of the sector.

Predicts the so-called structural rebound of the integrated circuits (IC) industry in the second half of 2001. Three main negative forces that affect the IC industry; IC unit-volume increases the industry enjoyed in 2000; Drop that the industry is expected to post in 2001. INSET: IC INSIGHTS' SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY OBSERVATION.

The author reflects on the production trends of integrated circuits (IC) in China and India. He believes that a clear distinction can be drawn between the IC market and IC production in China. Even if China was the largest consumer of IC in 2005, it does not directly translate to large IC production. While India is regarded as a potential hotbed for microchip manufacturing, the author asserted that such expectations have been exaggerated. He sees China and India as sites for low-cost IC fabrications.