EE Times: Semi News
IC industry is no dog in new forecast
Mark LaPedus
EE Times
(02/01/2006 12:55 AM EST)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The “Year of the Dog” will not be a dog for the semiconductor industry in 2006, according to an investment banking firm.
Instead, the semiconductor industry is getting off to a decent start in the “Year of the Dog.” In Chinese culture, each year is named for an animal mascot, and 2006 will be the “Year of the Dog.”
“We expect another average year for semiconductor growth — our forecast calls for revenue of $243 billion, representing 7.5 percent year-over-year growth [in 2006 over 2005],” according to a report from the Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. (FBR), a research firm.
“We believe the dynamics [in second half of 2005] of low inventory and low lead times are likely to continue over the next few months, setting up favorable conditions as we enter 2006,” according to FBR (Arlington, Va.).
Handset and notebook PC demand are solid, but chip-sets remain in tight supply, especially for Intel Corp.’s 915 and 945 lines, the report said. The 915 and 945 are 130-nm chip-set products for PCI Express applications.
ATI Technologies Inc. is supplying its Xpress 200 chip-set to Intel, which is using third-party products to keep up with huge OEM demand. “We think Intel will remain dependent on ATI as Intel tries to ramp dual-core through mid-year,” according to the report.
Intel, according to FBR, is also reportedly making the older-generation 865 chipset for use in entry-level systems. The 865 is a 180-nm chip-set designed for systems based on DDR1 memory.
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