Research Forecasts Big 2010 Gains In Semiconductor, Notebook Sales

ISuppli forecast 30.6 percent annual percentage growth for global semiconductor revenue in 2010. That would be the largest year-over-year climb since 2000, when the semiconductor industry enjoyed a 36.7 percent revenue spike over the previous year in the midst of the dot-com boom.

The dot-com crash that followed led to 28.6 percent year-over-year decline in semiconductor revenue in 2001. Isuppli doesn’t see that happening in 2011, when it projects further annual revenue growth to the tune of 8.6 percent as the industry recovers from negative sales growth years in 2008 (-5.2 percent) and 2009 (-11.7 percent).

The research firm also forecast quarterly sequential revenue growth for semiconductors of 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010, 7.9 percent in the third quarter and 2.1 percent in the fourth.

Turning to notebooks, iSuppli forecast worldwide shipments of 209.5 million units in 2010, up from the 166.9 million shipments in 2009. By 2014, the PC industry will be shipping 371.5 million units a year, according to the research firm.