Due to the impact of thecoronavirus on semiconductor supply and demand, worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to decline 0.9 per cent in 2020, according to Gartner Inc.This is down from the previous quarters forecast of 12.5 per cent growth, the research and advisory firm said.The wide spread of COVID-19 across the world and the resulting strong actions by governments to contain the spread will have a far more severe impact on demand than initially predicted, said Richard Gordon, research practice vice-president at Gartner, was quoted as saying in a statement.This years forecast could have been worse, but growth in memory could prevent a steep decline," he said.Overall, the 2020 global semiconductor revenue has been reduced from the previous quarters forecast by USD 55 billion, to USD 415.4 billion. In 2020, the total market growth has been reduced from 12.5 per cent to a decline of 0. 9 per cent, with nonmemory expected to decline 6.1 per cent, while memory is forecast to grow 13.9 per cent, it was stated.Within memory, NAND flash revenue is forecast to grow 40 per cent in 2020 due to severe shortages persisting from 2019, which keeps pricing firm.NAND flash supply will remain historically low in 2020 due to fab delays and technology transitions, but the demand will diminish later in 2020, said Gordon.Initial price increases of 15.7 per cent during the first half of 2020 will reverse to a 9.4 per cent decline during the second half of the year.However, average pricing levels will still enable NAND flash revenue to achieve growth this year.Strong demand from cloud service providers in the first half of 2020 will push pricing and revenue higher in server DRAM, Gartner said.However, this growth will be more than offset by weak demand and falling prices from the smartphone market.For the DRAM market overall, Gartner analysts estimate DRAM revenue will decline 2.4 per cent in 2020.
