Semiconductor unit sales remain strong and are expected to reach 718 billion in 2011, an 8.6% growth over 2010, according to Semico Research. Unit sales are driving wafer demand at both advanced and mature fabs. Total silicon demand is expected to grow by 10% in 2011, said the market researcher.
In the first quarter of 2011, semiconductor unit sales increased 1.3% over the fourth quarter of 2010 reflecting an unusually healthy growth compared to the traditionally slow or negative seasonal pattern for the first quarter of the year, Semico observed. Unit sales rose 6% from a year earlier in the first quarter of 2011 compared. Semico estimated that second-quarter 2011 would register a 6% growth sequentially with a corresponding growth in wafer demand.
Semiconductor devices that are leading the growth trend in both units and wafers include DRAM, NAND and MCU, Semico said. Smartphone and tablet sales continue to drive NAND flash demand. The main driver for DRAM demand is still the computing market including notebooks and servers, Semico pointed out.
Semicon indicated that it is cautious about the second half of 2011 due to the decline in its inflection point indicator (IPI). However, the index has already logged in two months of increase, providing some indication that the slowdown will be brief, according to Semico.