The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organization recently downgraded its 2022 revenue growth forecast for global semiconductor revenue. Instead of 10.1 percent, the WSTS expects the semiconductor industry to grow in the single digits, at just 8.8 percent. This is a significant year-on-year decline in growth relative to 2021, which registered 25.1 percent revenue growth across the industry, despite the COVID pandemic.
The WSTS report highlights that overall semiconductor revenue in 2022 will exceed US$600 billion for the first time. However, the precipitous decline in year on year growth could be attributed to the ongoing silicon shortage. Poor yields on Samsung’s 8nm process node, along with a surge in demand from cryptocurrency miners has meant that flagship Ampere GPUs like the GeForce RTX 3080 are selling at two to three times their official MSRP.
The WSTS’s forecast downgrade raises the possibility that the silicon shortage could extend well into next year, and perhaps into 2023. This means that a wide range of products, from consumer GPUs and CPUs, to memory, smartphones, and laptops, could stay priced out of reach for many.
(Source: Notebookcheck)
