All This Processing Power and We Still Can’t Get the Forecasts Right

So that ugly downturn facing the semiconductor industry? Not going to be quite so ugly, say the folks at Gartner (IT). After slashing its worldwide chip forecast from 6.2 % growth to 3.4% growth this past March, Gartner raised it by more than 1%.

Seems the slowing U.S. economy hasn’t had as much of an impact on consumer electronics sales as the research outfit had feared. Gartner projects worldwide semiconductor sales to reach $286.5 billion in 2008, or a 4.6% increase from 2007. “It was widely assumed that the slowdown in the U.S. economy that began in mid-2007 would reduce demand for electronics goods and, by extension, semiconductors in 2008,” said Gartner’s Richard Gordon. “However, while we are still forecasting low single-digit growth for the semiconductor market in 2008, this has more to do with supply-side factors than weakness in demand.”

Gartner’s latest metrics, it should be noted, jibe with the latest sales numbers from the Semiconductor Industry Association. Yesterday, the association said that sales of semiconductors rose 6% in April, boosted by strong demand for personal computers and handsets.