SAN FRANCISCO—Market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) Thursday (July 19) cut its forecast for 2012 semiconductor market growth, citing macroeconomic uncertainties such as the ongoing Eurozone crisis, lower global GDP growth and slowing in emerging markets.
IDC (Framingham, Mass.) said it now expects semiconductor sales to grow 4.6 percent in 2012, reaching $315 billion. The firm had forecast in April that sales of chips would
grow between 6 and 7 percent this year. IDC's reduced forecast for the chip market in 2012 remains near the high end of market research firms covering the market. Forecasts for chip growth this year range from roughly flat to a high of 8.6 percent, with most market watchers expecting growth of 2 to 5 percent in 2012.
In 2013, IDC said it expects chip sales to grow 6.2 percent to $335 billion and increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8 percent from 2011 to 2016, reaching $380 billion in 2016.
