According to Gartner, worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total 332 billion dollars in 2016, a decrease of 0.9% from 2015. This represents two consecutive years of revenue decline, but the outlook for the semiconductor market is improving. “The worst appears to be over, with a stronger outlook for the remainder of 2016 driven by inventory replenishment and increasing average selling prices in select markets – said Jon Erensen, research director at Gartner -. Improving conditions in the commodity memory market contributed the most to the improved outlook based on stronger supply-and-demand dynamics”. As communicated by Gartner, key electronic equipment markets have bottomed and stabilized, which has contributed to the stronger outlook, and in some markets (most notably smartphones and video game consoles) production estimates have been revised up for 2016. The outlook for emerging opportunities for semiconductors in the Internet of Things and wearable electronics remains choppy with these markets still in the early stages of development and too small to have a significant impact on overall semiconductor revenue growth in 2016 and 2017.
