Telecom Lead Asia: Gartner said media tablet unit
production is forecast to increase 78 percent over 2011, and semiconductor
revenue from media tablets will reach $9.5 billion in 2012.
Quad-core processors and higher-resolution displays will
be mainstream for tablets in 2012.
Mobile phone production is expected to grow 6.7 percent,
with semiconductor revenue for mobile phones totaling $57.2 billion in 2012.
Gartner said that innovation focused on location and
context will require advances in sensing, processing, displays, connectivity
and power efficiency.
Semiconductor revenue is projected to total $316 billion
in 2012, a 4 percent increase from 2011.
“The semiconductor industry is poised for a rebound
starting in the second quarter of 2012. The inventory correction is expected to
conclude this quarter, foundry utilization rates are bottoming, and the economic
outlook is stabilizing,” said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at
Gartner.
PC unit production in 2012 is projected to increase 4.7
percent, and semiconductor revenue from PCs will reach $57.8 billion.
Media tablets grew to 68.7 million units: IDC
According to IDC, global media tablet shipments increased
155 percent in Q4 2011 to 28.2 million units from Q4 2010. The market
experienced stronger-than-expected growth across many regions and at many price
points, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units. IDC has
increased its 2012 forecast to 106.1 million units, up from its previous
forecast of 87.7 million units.
Gartner said 2012 should be a reasonably strong year for
the semiconductor industry if the macroeconomic outlook stays in check.
Gartner’s 2012 semiconductor forecast of 4 percent growth assumes the European
debt issues stay contained, Iran/Israel tensions stay in check, and solid
growth from China.
In the memory sector, DRAM pricing is expected to improve
beginning in the second quarter of 2012. The DRAM market will show a slight
revenue increase in 2012 (up 0.9 percent from 2011) after being the
worst-performing market in 2011, declining 25 percent.
DRAM prices were down about 50 percent in 2011, and
Gartner analysts expect pricing to rebound in part due to Elpida filing
bankruptcy protection. NAND flash memory, however, is one of the
fastest-growing device types in 2012, with revenue forecast to grow 18 percent.
Analysts attribute the NAND flash growth to a strong increase in mobile
consumer devices and solid-state drives.
