Foundry capacity will grow by 40 per cent

THE COUNTERS OF BEANS at the IT industry research firm Isuppli have consulted their Tarot cards again and claim that chip foundry suppliers will see 2010 revenues jump by 39.5 per cent.

According to the analysts, total foundry revenues will reach $24.8 billion this year, up from $17.8 billion in 2009.

This year's projected foundry equipment revenues also are projected to increase 24.6 per cent from 2008 levels of $19.9 billion.

Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst for semiconductor manufacturing at Isuppli said that the boom is being pushed by the renewed economy and better features on the latest chipmaking gear.

This means that worldwide consumers again are purchasing electronic products like mad and, unless everything goes tits up again, chip foundry demand should grow like topsy.

Foundry manufacturers are ready to meet this demand from the consumer and wireless markets, and have built process technology capable of supporting such growth.

It is fairly likely that revenue expansion in the foundry equipment business will outperform that of the semiconductor industry in 2010. µ