Is IC market going up or down?

Mark LaPedus, EETimes
9/21/2010 6:42 PM EDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. - There are mixed signals in the IC market.

Recently, many market research houses have raised their respective IC growth forecasts for 2010. Some believe that the IC market will grow by a staggering 30 percent or more this year.

But right now, the PC, LCD, LED and other markets appear to be in a seasonal lull-if not slump. AMD, Intel and other PC chip makers have lowered their forecasts in recent times.

On Monday (Sept. 20), Vernon Essi, an analyst with Needham & Co. LLC, lowered his P/E ratio estimates for some analog vendors, including MPS, Maxim, SMSC, Volterra, TI, On Semi and Ixys. Then, on Tuesday (Sept. 21), Infineon, Skyworks and other wireless vendors raised their outlooks, but Exar and PMC-Sierra lowered thier respective forecasts.

What gives?

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