Holiday season to drive global chip sales to all time high

Global semiconductor revenues are projected to touch all-time high in the July-September quarter this year as device makers line up a slew of gadgets across price points ahead of the holiday season.
Worldwide semiconductor revenues are expected to touch USD 338 billion in 2014, a 7.2 per cent increase from 2013, research firm Gartner said, adding that it is also up from the previous quarter's forecast of 6.7 per cent growth.
Semiconductor revenue set an all-time record in the third quarter of 2014, fuelled by a strong electronics build for the holiday season, Gartner Research Director Jon Erensen said.
"Get ready for a flood of new product introductions, ranging from simple low-cost tablets to high-end ultramobiles and smartphones. Demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has been robust, but there is concern for other types of devices planned for the holidays," he added.

Gartner anticipates that some products may not sell through during the holiday season, but added that it remains bullish on consumer demand during the year.
It has projected 2014 unit production of smartphones and ultramobiles to increase 27 per cent and 18.9 per cent, respectively.

The semiconductor market is expected to grow 5.8 per cent in 2015, with high inventories in the first quarter of 2015 emerging as the largest concern.
Sales of mobile phones are expected to reach 1.9 billion units in 2014, up 3.1 per cent from 2013.
Gartner estimates that smartphone sales will represent 88 per cent of global mobile phone sales by 2018 - up from 66 per cent in 2014.

The firm estimates that sale of tablets will see a relative slowdown in 2014 to reach 256 million units, an increase of 23.9 per cent from 2013.
Lower demand from users for tablets with smaller screens, some in favour of larger screens, in mature markets, and the shift towards phablets in South-East Asia are slowing global tablet penetration.