Going into the year, 2012 looked like it would be a party for semiconductors, with IHS iSuppli forecasting shipment growth of 3%.
Hindsight being hindsight, the cart might have been well before the horse. According to the market research firm, shipments now are expected to drop 0.1%.
IHS made the sudden change because of weak data in the second quarter. A big key has been the global economic slowdown, but the PC industry also has been a drag, with the onslaught of tablets — from Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad and tablets running Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android is taking a toll.
Still, IHS iSuppli hasn’t been deterred — it predicts a 9% growth rate for semiconductors in 2013, based on an improvement in the global economy. Still, the forecast might yet be optimistic as the tablet revolution continues to be a long-term threat to PCs.
– Tom Taulli, InvestorPlace
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