LONDON — The automotive semiconductor market is expected to decline by 26.5 percent in 2009 to $14.58 billion, after declining nearly 5 percent in 2008 to $19.53 billion, according to a fourth quarter update from market research firm Gartner.
Positive growth of 13.5 percent is expected to return in 2010, when the automotive total available market will reach $16.55 billion. However, it will take until 2012 for the market to exceed the revenue levels of 2008, when it is expected to reach $20.96 billion.
Growth in the automotive semiconductor market is closely linked to growth in light-vehicle production. The global financial crisis led to a significant slowdown in new vehicle sales and a steep decline in vehicle production in the last four months of 2008 and in 1Q09.
Inventory levels corrected somewhat in 1Q09, and overall production improved a little in 2Q09, with 3Q09 showing strong growth for semiconductor vendors, helped by the replenishment of the depleted inventories from the previous months.
In all vehicle production declined by 4.4 percent in 2008, and Gartner expects it to decline by a further 19.6 percent in 2009, reflecting the impact of the economic crisis on the automotive market. This has resulted in an improvement on Gartner's previous forecast of a 22.7 percent decline in vehicle production and 30.1 percent decline in the market for automotive semiconductors.
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