Pure-Play Foundry Sales Forecast to Top $12B in 4Q15
August 31, 2015 | IC InsightsEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The pure-play foundry market is forecast to grow to an all-time high of $12.2 billion in 4Q15, following several quarters in which sales remained between $11.3 and $11.8 billion, based on IC Insights’ updated foundry forecast presented in the August Update to The McClean Report 2015. IC Insights defines a pure-play foundry as a company that does not offer a significant amount of IC products of its own design, but instead focuses on producing ICs for other companies (e.g., TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC, SMIC, etc.).
The quarterly pure-play IC foundry market has recently displayed a seasonal pattern in which the best growth rate takes place in the second quarter of the year and a sales downturn occurs in the fourth quarter. Given that about 98% of pure-play foundries’ sales are to IDMs and fabless companies that will re-sell the devices they purchase from the foundry, it makes sense that the pure-play foundries’ strongest seasonal quarter (second quarter) is one quarter earlier than the total IC industry’s strongest seasonal quarter (third quarter).
However, as shown in the figure, 2015 is not expected to display the typical pure-play foundry quarterly revenue pattern. Although 1Q15 registered its usual weakness, 2Q15 showed a sequential decline, rather than an increase. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, second quarter pure-paly foundry revenue showed strong double-digit growth. In 2Q15, results were decidedly atypical with a 2% decline in pure-paly foundry sales. The primary reason behind the 2Q15 sales decline was the 5% 2Q15/1Q15 revenue decline by foundry giant TSMC. TSMC’s 5% sequential decline was equivalent to a $366 million drop in its revenue.
For 4Q15, IC Insights forecasts that the quarterly pure-play foundry market will show a higher than normal growth rate of 4%. With most of the inventory adjustments that held back growth in the first half of the year expected to be completed by the end of 3Q15, 4Q15 is forecast to register enough growth to boost the quarterly pure-play foundry market to over $12.0 billion for the first time.
Suggested Items
Simbe Partners with Plexus to Scale Manufacturing and Meet Global Retail Demand
05/08/2024 | Globe NewswireSimbe, the leading provider of Store Intelligence™ solutions that increase retailer performance through unprecedented visibility and insights, today announced a partnership with Plexus Corp. to bring its best-in-class retail robotics-as-a-service to market quickly and at global scale.
IDTechEx Discusses Low-Loss Materials: The Enabler of Future Connected Vehicles?
05/06/2024 | IDTechExFuture connected vehicles will offer future drivers a safer, smoother, and more convenient driving experience. Not only will drivers get access to more navigation and entertainment options, but they will also gain access to safety technologies that will potentially reduce accidents, improve congestion, and reduce emissions globally by allowing vehicle safety systems to communicate with each other and with city traffic infrastructure.
HBM Prices to Increase by 5–10% in 2025, Accounting for Over 30% of Total DRAM Value
05/06/2024 | TrendForceAvril Wu, TrendForce Senior Research Vice President, reports that the HBM market is poised for robust growth, driven by significant pricing premiums and increased capacity needs for AI chips.
Tablet Shipments Show Signs of Recovery in Q1 2024
05/06/2024 | IDCAfter more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24), totaling 30.8 million units, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
Industrial PC Market Size to Record $1.75 Billion Growth from 2023-2027
05/03/2024 | PRNewswireThe global industrial pc market size is estimated to grow by USD 1.75 billion from 2023 to 2027, according to Technavio. This growth is expected to occur at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 6.29% during the forecast period.