PORTSMOUTH, UK – Despite signs of an economic slowdown in the wake of the global credit crunch, Semicast says revenues for semiconductors in industrial and medical applications will continue to grow around 8% in 2008.

“One of the defining characteristics of the industrial sector is that it does not exhibit the ‘boom-and-bust’ cycle so typical of the semiconductor industry as a whole. While in good times this means opportunities are often overlooked, during more uncertain times, the sector represents a safe bet for steady and dependable revenues. Accordingly, many semiconductor vendors are now taking a much closer look at the opportunities,” said Colin Barnden, Semicast’s principal analyst for semiconductor research.

The market for semiconductors in industrial and medical applications is estimated to have been $20 billion in 2007, up 20% compared to 2005. Demand is forecast to rise further, to more than $33 billion in 2013, a CAGR approaching 9%, totaling $183 billion during the period between 2007 and 2013, says the research firm.

In 2007, analog ICs and discretes represented the two largest product categories, followed by MCU/MPU/DSP, according to Semicast. Over the medium term, highest revenue growth is forecast for analog ICs, followed by MCU/MPU/DSP.

Demand is forecast to continue to be led by standard linear devices, with strong revenue growth also for application specific analog ICs. The need for high-precision or high-speed products is growing strongly, driving up overall ASPs and supporting continued growth, says the firm.

The vast majority of revenues in the discretes category are for power discretes, which are used widely in applications such as lighting ballast, motor drives and power supplies.

While industrial is often thought of as a sector requiring low processing performance, more than two-thirds of growth in the MCU/MPU/DSP category is forecast for 32-bit devices. x86 MPUs had the highest revenues in 2007, but ARM MCUs are forecast to see highest growth.

Revenues for PLDs/FPGAs are forecast to grow strongly in industrial applications, while revenue growth for gate array/standard cell-based devices is forecast to slow. Growth is forecast to increase with replacement of incandescent bulbs with LEDs in lighting applications and across the industrial sector as a whole.

Strong demand for image sensors is also forecast in machine vision and video surveillance, while optocouplers continue to find strong demand in the automation sector, says Semicast.

SAN JOSE – Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 7.5% in May, year-over-year, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. Sales were up 2.8% sequentially. Excluding memory sales, ICs are up 12.3% through May.

Year-to-date sales are up 5.3% from 2007. Total semiconductor sales excluding memory products were up by 12.3 % year-on-year and 2.5% sequentially. SIA noted that May is historically a relatively strong month for semiconductor sales.

“Global sales of semiconductors grew at a healthy rate in May reflecting continued strong sales of consumer electronic products,” said SIA president George Scalise in a statement. “Despite reports of declining consumer confidence in the U.S., both disposable income and consumer spending rose in May. It is likely that the distribution of tax rebate checks to millions of Americans was a factor in increased consumer spending.

Scalise also pointed to demand for consumer electronics in China, Latin America and India. “Consumers account for more than half of all semiconductor sales worldwide. In the past, the US was the largest consumer market and the primary driver of demand. Today this country accounts for less than a quarter of total consumer demand,” Scalise noted.

Scalise said the decline in US electronics purchases relative to the rest of the world is a positive in that a slowdown won't have the same effect on the industry. The US's share of the PC market has fallen from 31% to 21%, and its share of cellphone unit sales has dropped from 21% to 13% in the past five years. “While we haven’t seen a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending on electronic products, a slowdown in the US today would not have the same impact it had in the past.

Unit demand for memory chips continues to be strong, SIA said. Pricing continues to sag, although capacity growth is slowing, which could boost pricing in the future.