Increases in Semiconductor Sales Set to Drive Power Electronics Growth
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s Autumn 2011 global semiconductor sales forecast projects that semiconductor sales will grow to $302 billion this year, reaching the $300 billion level for the first time, representing a 1.3% growth over the record-breaking sales in 2010. Beyond 2011, the industry is on track to grow steadily and modestly according to the WSTS forecast. WSTS is predicting 3.7 percent growth for 2012 and 5.8 percent growth for 2013.
"The accelerating growth in semiconductor sales is good news for makers of all types of power conversion and energy storage products," stated Jeff Shepard, president of Darnell Group. "Makers of ac-dc power supplies, dc/dc converters, battery chargers, rechargeable batteries and all types of related components stand to benefit from this broad-based growth," Shepard concluded.
In a recent announcement, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has endorsed the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s Autumn 2011 global semiconductor sales forecast which has projected semiconductor sales to grow to record levels in 2011.
"The combination of record-breaking sales in 2010 coupled with this year’s forecast topping the $300 billion mark for the first time is welcome news for both the semiconductor industry and the entire economy," said Brian Toohey, president, Semiconductor Industry Association. "Despite a challenging global economic environment this year and the natural disasters that have impacted production in Asia, the semiconductor industry has demonstrated impressive resilience. The growing level of semiconductor content embedded across a wide range of consumer, industrial, business and government applications points to continued growth in 2012 and 2013."
According to WSTS, for the month of October 2011, Japan continued its recovery with month-over-month growth at 2.2 percent marking the fourth consecutive month of growth. Additionally, year to date semiconductor shipments to the Americas region grew 4.6 percent, followed by shipments to Asia Pacific at 3.4 percent and Europe at 1.2 percent year-over-year.
