Chip Inventories Rise Again in Q2

The market research firm believes that the chip industry is still rebuilding once depleted stockpiles and is set to cope with an expected increase in demand later this year.

The market research firm said that the overall inventory level has climbed to a supply of 81.5 days in Q2, up from 80.3 days in Q1. Inventory levels have risen for the seventh consecutive month in a row in the second quarter, IHS iSuppli said.

Inventories throughout the electronics supply chain, including at semiconductor suppliers, distributors, contract manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM), during the first quarter rose for all sectors except for computer makers. Computer OEM stockpiles declined more than 8%, likely because they shipped most of their products to retail outlets for restocking following the busy holiday season in the fourth quarter of 2010. Memory and analog companies had the highest percentage increases in their internal inventory, with growth of almost 15%, according to IHS iSuppli. the market research firm said that growth in the chip industry "will be stimulated by market demand for popular consumer items like smartphones and tablets, as well as for perennial reliables such as PCs."

Whiel the earthquake in Japan is not believed to have significant impact on the supply of semiconductors, IHS iSuppli said that raw wafer supply will remain somewhat of a concern as Japan provides approximately 60% of the global supply of semiconductor wafers. " However, in a positive indicator, leading semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced that it will not experience any detrimental effects from the aftermath of the disaster," IHS iSuppli noted.

  • clonazepam
    Intel needs to drop some new processors. Maybe nail the coffin shut on 1366 with a final smokin' release. I would also like to see some more sandy bridge k-series. These have been so widely accepted, it's already very unexciting. Give me a 5ghz i3 please... for cheap. It's gonna feel like ages until we see Ivy Bridge, unless you want one in a server / high-end workstation.
    Reply
  • spookyman
    So will that mean lower prices for us?
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  • dextermat
    So will that mean lower prices for us?

    Probably not: speculation only works when theirs a shortage in supply.

    Look a petroleum products. When their too much nothing happens, as soon as theirs a little bit less production, prices goes up.

    That's capitalism for ya!!
    Reply
  • jdamon113
    Apple should just shut the door on sumsung and buit its own.
    The technolgy in the US is thriving, one good spot for thie dropping economy....
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  • a sandwhich
    Whiel
    Reply
  • ikyung
    jdamon113Apple should just shut the door on sumsung and buit its own.The technolgy in the US is thriving, one good spot for thie dropping economy....They can't. Apple just doesn't have enough resources to push Samsung out of their way. Even if Apple did, they would outsource their jobs outside of US anyways. If you had any idea why economy is doing bad, what you suggested would make it worse.
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  • illfindu
    I think its pretty likely this trend might go on for a little bit the Intel fan club has just recently got there sandy bridge's at least most of them. And many AMD fan boys ( me included ) Waiting for BD there really isn't a massively compelling reason to buy a CPU right now. most people likely just got a SB , are waiting for the LGA2011 or BD.
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  • slicedtoad
    ^ most people have no idea what SB or BD even means, enthusiasts don't make up much of the market. Rather, enthusiasts make up the part of the market that will continue buying, recession or not, as long as new stuff comes out.
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  • illfindu
    I don't agree I think most people who are able to replace there CPU know what sandy bridge is if you talk to 10 people who own a personal desktop i bet 9 of them wouldn't even know how to take off the stock fan. And I know there is going to be a million people saying all there friends can do it but toms readers are in general more likely to be knowledgeable in tech and have friends and family who are also if you asked most people on the street very very few would buy a boxed cpu because they wouldn't know how to install it. You'r claim is that most people don't know what SB is that would mean that most people go and buy a new CPU for there mother board knowing the right socket uninstall the old one and install the new one most people who have that much base knowledge at least know what there buying. Its like saying people who buy and replace there own engines don't know what a transmission is.
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  • slicedtoad
    What i tried to say was that most ppl don't replace their cpus. Most ppl buy pre-assembled computers.
    Reply