Positive and negative, memory sales continue to strongly impact total IC market.
IC Insights recently updated its 2019-2023 semiconductor market forecasts in its March Update to the 500-page, 2019 edition of The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry.
In the March Update, IC Insights shows how the total memory market heavily influenced total IC market growth for the positive during the past two years but will likely have a very negative impact on total ICmarket growth in 2019.
The DRAM and NAND flash markets continue to closely follow the original IC industry cycle model whereby the market cycles are primarily driven by fluctuations in capital spending and capacity. Including IC Insights’ forecast for 2019, it appears that little has changed regarding the extremely volatile nature of DRAM market cycles (Figure 1).
Figure 2
For 2019, the memory market is forecast to be a significant headwind on worldwide IC market growth. The total memory market is forecast to fall by 24% this year (a decline of $38.6 billion). The big decline in the memory market is forecast to drag down total IC market growth by 9%. Factoring out memory, the total IC market growth rate is forecast to be flat (0%) this year.
Report Details: The 2019 McClean Report
Additional details on IC market trends and forecasts are provided in The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry (released in January 2019). A subscription to The McClean Report includes free monthly updates from March through November (including a 200+ page Mid-Year Update), and free access to subscriber-only webinars throughout the year. An individual-user license to the 2019 edition of The McClean Report is priced at $4,990 and includes an Internet access password. A multi-user worldwide corporate license is available for $7,990.