LITTLE ROCK — Rise in semiconductor sales foreseen
Semiconductor revenue worldwide will grow 4.6 percent to $315 billion this year, helped by strong demand for smart phones, tablets and automotive electronics, according to a report last week from research firm IDC.
Next year, sales will climb 6.2 percent to $335 billion, the Framingham, Mass.-based firm said in the report. Revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8 percent from 2011-16, reaching $380 billion in 2016, IDC said.
Supply constraints are easing on semiconductor products, such as processors for smart-phone applications and personal-computer discrete graphics, and the industry has recovered from flooding in Thailand that caused a shortage of hard drives, according to the report.
Semiconductor sales will also get a boost from the debut this year of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system and next-generation smart phones.
“As we forecasted earlier this year, the cyclical semiconductor downturn that started in the middle of last year reached bottom in the second quarter of 2012,” Mali Venkatesan, research manager for semiconductors at IDC, said in the statement.
Nokia Lumia sales exceed estimates
Nokia Oyj, the mobile-phone-maker that lost its 14-year run as the global leader this year, posted sales of its top smart phone that beat analysts’ estimates while predicting continuing losses for its handset business.
Nokia said sales of the Lumia phone increased to 4 million units in the second quarter, after more than 2 million in the previous period.
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop, who took over in 2010, has announced more than 20,000 job cuts and shuttered production and research sites. He is betting on the Lumia running Microsoft Corp. software to stem gains by Apple Inc.’s iPhone and handsets using Google Inc.’s Android software, including Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy models.
Analysts on average projected that Espoo, Finlandbased Nokia would ship 3.8 million Lumia phones, said Sami Sarkamies, an analyst at Nordea Bank in Helsinki.
Total Nokia smart-phone sales fell 39 percent to 10.2 million units and more basic handsets rose by 2.4 percent to 73.5 million units. Nokia lost its position as the biggest maker of mobile phones to Samsung this year, after the Suwon, South Korea-based company sold 93.5 million units in the first quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Intel lowers its annual sales forecast
Intel Corp., the world’s largest semiconductor-maker, has scaled back its annual sales forecast as personal-computer demand fails to rebound among consumers in the U.S. and Europe.
Revenue will rise 3 percent to 5 percent in 2012, the company said in a statement last week. That was lower than an earlier projection for a gain at a percentage in the high single digits. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel posted $54 billion in sales last year, and analysts on average estimated growth of 4.8 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With demand in developed countries ebbing, Intel is relying on PC purchases in emerging nations such as China and India for growth. Though its third-quarter sales forecast fell short of some analysts’ projections, the company’s data-center group, which makes chips used in the server machines that underpin networks, posted a sales gain of 15 percent in the second quarter, helping keep profitability at record levels.
“They’re definitely recognizing the weakness out there,” said Patrick Wang, a New York-based analyst at Evercore Partners Inc. “Margins were fairly robust. Data center continues to work for them.”
Earlier this month, Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. disclosed that revenue unexpectedly slumped 11 percent in the second quarter. The company blamed weakness in China and Europe for the decline.
Samsung to buy CSR’s handset unit
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest mobile phone-maker, has agreed to buy British chip designer CSR PLC’s wireless unit for $310 million in cash.
Samsung will pay an additional $34.4 million for new stock that would give it a 4.9 percent stake in CSR, the Cambridge, England-based company said in a statement last week. The deal includes access to CSR technology and a development team of 310 people. The purchase doesn’t include CSR’s camera unit, and CSR will retain current handset products.
CSR, a supplier of location-tracking chips for Samsung’s Galaxy phones and tablets, gets 25 percent of its revenue from the handset unit that had sales of $57.8 million in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
Acquiring the division will help Samsung beef up its technology as it looks to replace Qualcomm Inc. chips with its own Exynos processor.
Business, Pages 20 on 07/23/2012