The worldwide market for desktop and notebook PC chips will grow 8.9 per cent next year, after a sharp 35.5 per cent drop in 2001 and a flat 2002, market researcher IDC said Thursday.
Revenue in the market, which includes processors and PC chipsets, will reach US$39.4 billion in 2003, up from US$36.2 billion this year, according to IDC. However, the recovery won’t begin until the second half of next year, IDC said.
IDC’s forecast came the same day that both Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the two main players in the PC semiconductor market, raised their fourth quarter sales forecasts due to better than expected sales.
The mobile PC segment will grow fastest, 11.1 per cent from US$8.25 billion to US$9.2 billion, while the desktop market will see 8.2 per cent growth from US$27.9 billion to US$30.2 billion, IDC said.
Already, unit shipment growth of processors and chipsets has seen seasonal growth, but revenue still suffers from price erosion, according to IDC.
IDC on Friday also released its worldwide PC shipments forecast, predicting an 8.3 per cent growth in shipments to 147.5 million units in 2003 and by 11 per cent to 163.8 million units in 2004.