Global semiconductor revenue to up 12.3% this year: Gartner

Global semiconductor revenue will total $386 billion in 2017 -- an increase of 12.3 per cent from 2016, market research firm Gartner said on Thursday.

Favourable market conditions that gained momentum in the second half of 2016, particularly for commodity memory, have accelerated and raised the outlook for the market in 2017 and 2018.

"While price increases for both DRAM and NAND flash memory are raising the outlook for the overall semiconductor market, it will also put pressure on margins for system vendors of smartphones, PCs and servers," said Jon Erensen, Research Director at Gartner.

Unit production estimates for premium smartphones, graphics cards, video game consoles and automotive applications have improved and contributed to the stronger outlook in 2017.

In addition, electronic equipment with heavy exposure to DRAM and NAND flash saw semiconductor revenue is set to increase. This includes PCs, servers and solid-state drives.

"The outlook for emerging opportunities for semiconductors in the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronics remains choppy with these markets still in the early stages of development and too small to have a significant impact on overall semiconductor revenue growth in 2017," added Erensen.

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