IC Insights' mid-year forecast shows analog integrated circuit sales slipping 2% to $36.2 billion in 2007 from $39.9 billion in 2006, when the market increased nearly 16%.

The slump will be brief, however. Analog integrated circuit sales are expected to rebound in 2008 with a 15% increase, which will push the market to a record-high $41.7 billion next year, according to IC Insights' 2007 Mid-Year Update report. Analog IC unit volumes are also forecast to hit record-high levels in 2008 with worldwide device shipments reaching 81.8 billion, up 13% from a projected 72.5 million units in 2007. Analog IC unit growth has slowed dramatically in 2007 with device shipments expected to rise just 4% compared to an annual average increase of 16% per year during the 2002-2006 timeframe.

Analog units will account for about 49% of all ICs shipped in 2007, compared to 51% in 2006 and 50% in 2005.

Inventory corrections in portable electronic products-especially cellular phones-and price erosion have negatively impacted a number of key analog market segments that rarely see down years. For example, the application-specific analog IC segment is forecast to decline 6% in 2007 to $22.1 billion. In the 2002-2006 period, application-specific analog sales increased at a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 11% per year.
In the application-specific analog market, only the automotive and wired telecom segments are expected to grow in 2007 (up 24% and 5%, respectively), while declines are forecasted for wireless (-16%), industrial (-12%), consumer (-9%), and computer (-6%) device categories. In 2007, application-specific analog devices will account for about 61% of total analog IC sales, according to IC Insights' projections.
Meanwhile, standard analog IC sales are expected to grow just 4% to $14.0 billion in 2007, after increasing at an annual average of 8% per year in the 2002-2006 period. In the standard analog segment, revenues for comparators are expected to drop 7% while voltage regulators and reference devices are forecast to decline 2%. The forecast shows sales growth in 2007 for data conversion devices (+19%), amplifiers (+7%), and interface ICs (+9%).

During the 2007-2011 forecast period, total analog IC revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% per year, reaching $49.9 billion in 2011, according to IC Insights' Mid-Year Update report. Standard analog IC sales are forecast to reach $18.2 billion in 2011, while application-specific analog revenues will total $31.7 billion that same year.

Now, choking with salary hikes, competition and traffic jams and a strong rupee that has eroded IT competitiveness, the city is busy reinventing itself for a new, new world.
On the menu now are a finishing school for techies, high-way like roads and plug-and-play offices. M.N. Vidyashankar, Karnataka's secretary for IT and BT (information technology and biotechnology), told Hindustan Times on Monday that the new urge will reflect in the BangaloreIT.com international conference and event due to be held from October 29 to November 1. "We are branding the event as a gateway to Asia," Vidyashankar said. "It is not about cost advantage. It is about intellectual advantage."

Bangalore has changed fast from being a town for cut-rate Java programmers (who still exist in hordes) to one that produces advanced work including software product development, semi-conductor design and materials research, over the years. Now, in a Silicon Valley-like mode, Bangalore's authorities are in a mood to help startups.

J. Parthasarathy, director of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), the government agency which has for long existed to register IT companies and provide an earth station, now offers "incubation facilities" for early-stage companies.

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