Global semiconductor industry revenue is expected to grow 16.8 percent year-on-year next year, following a slump this year, largely fueled by a surge in demand for memory chips, US-based market information advisory firm Gartner Inc said on Monday.
Gartner said the global semiconductor industry is forecast to generate US$624 billion in sales next year, up from US$534 billion this year, during which revenue is predicted to fall 10.9 percent amid inventory adjustments caused by weak demand.
The global market for memory chips is expected to rebound next year by 66.3 percent, following a fall of 38.8 percent this year due to oversupply issues, Gartner said.
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The price of NAND flash memory chips, a type of storage technology that does not require power to retain data, is expected to hit rock bottom over the next three to six months and stage a robust recovery next year, with sales likely to rise 49.6 percent to US$53 billion, Gartner said.
The oversupply of DRAM chips would continue throughout this quarter and trigger a pricing rebound, the full effects of which might emerge next year when sales are estimated to soar 88 percent to US$87.4 billion, it said.
“We are nearing the end of 2023 and strong demand for chips to support artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, such as graphics processing units (GPUs), is not going to be enough to save the semiconductor industry from double-digit decline in 2023,” Gartner vice president analyst Alan Priestley said in a statement.
“Reduced demand from smartphones and PC customers coupled with weakness in data center/hyper scaler spending are influencing the decline in revenue this year,” Priestley added.
Gartner said developments in generative AI and large-language models are driving up demand for high-performance GPU-based servers and accelerator cards in data centers, which subsequently creates a need for workload accelerators.
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