Chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), was blunt about the market downturn during a speech after being presented with an award from the Semiconductor Industry Association. He was named recipient of the 2008 Robert N. Noyce Award, the highest honor given by the SIA.

''Things are tough,'' Chang said. The current IC ''downturn will be longer and deeper than the ones we've been through.''

Chang also said that it could be some time before the chip industry returns to growth, but the down cycle ''shall pass.'' When that event occurs, ''the industry will grow and it will be stronger than ever,'' he added.

As reported, the SIA reduced its IC forecast and projected the first decline in sales since 2001. In fact, the trade group predicts a two-year chip decline.

The new forecast projects IC sales of $261.2 billion in 2008, a 2.2 percent increase from $255.6 billion in 2007, according to the SIA. SIA projects that IC sales will decline by 5.6 percent to $246.7 billion in 2009, before resuming growth in 2010. Sales will grow by 7.4 percent in 2010 to $264.9 billion and by 7.5 percent in 2011 to $284.7 billion.

At present, though, business looks tough for chip makers. ''Except for the unusually-defensive Microsemi, we cannot think of a single chip firm that will see revenues fall less than 10 percent sequentially in 4Q,'' said Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR, in a report.

By: DocMemory
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