TOKYO (Kyodo) -- World semiconductor shipments this year will jump 28.6 percent from the previous year to a record $290.9 billion on robust demand in China and other emerging markets, a global semiconductor industry body forecast Tuesday.
The forecast shipments exceed the 2007 level before the global financial crisis and are the highest since the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics initiated the global semiconductor market survey in 1984.
The predicted growth for this year, which represents a sharp upward revision from 12.2 percent as estimated last November, is the first in three years.
Actual shipments in 2009 declined 9.0 percent from the previous year to $226.3 billion due to the global recession following the 2008 financial crisis.
The industry body also forecast world semiconductor shipments to grow 5.6 percent in 2011 and 4.2 percent in 2012.
"Particularly, demand is strong for semiconductors for personal computers and liquid crystal display televisions," WSTS Japan Council Chairman Hirotaka Kusama said. "Demand for those for mobile phones is still growing in emerging countries, although they have diffused considerably in industrial countries."
Semiconductor shipments in Japan this year are predicted to increase 13.5 percent to 4.06 trillion yen after dropping 28.8 percent to 3.58 trillion yen in 2009.
