May 31, 2007 – Yet another industry group is downwardly revising chip sales outlook for 2007. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS)’s newly issued spring 2007 forecast drops its outlook for chip sales this year to just over 2%, with a minor downward revision seen in 2008 as well.

The WSTS analysis says its 2007 downward revision is due to lower sales in 1Q07 across nearly all categories. A moderate recover is expected for 2H07, the group said, as demand continues to grow for products such as PCs, digital consumer appliances, and mobile communications amid a “challenging, yet generally healthy world economy.”

Like Gartner, the WSTS sees a peak in chip sales growth reached in 2008, though some categories won’t display typical whipsaw cyclical patterns.

Another change in the outlook refers to the Asia-Pacific region, which is still the fastest growing region — but the WSTS says that’s now primarily due to rising domestic demand, more than the dynamics of the shift in chip manufacturing to the A-P region.

The WSTS pulls data from 73 member companies, representing 85% of the world semiconductor market, including the top 20 semiconductor companies.