Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $451 billion in 2018, an increase of 7.5% from $419 billion in 2017, according to Gartner. This represents a near doubling of its analysts’ previous estimate of 4% growth for 2018.
However, price increases will put pressure on margins for system vendors of key semiconductor demand drivers, including smartphones, PCs and servers. Gartner predicts that component shortages, a rising bill of materials and the resulting prospect of having to raise average selling prices will create a volatile market through 2018.
Despite the upward revision, the quarterly growth profile for 2018 is expected to fall back to a more normal pattern with a mid-single-digit sequential decline in the first quarter of the year, followed by a recovery and build-up in both the second and third quarters, and a slight decline in the fourth quarter.
