SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The first quarter of 2019 was the fourth largest sequential IC market decline on record. The 17.6% drop was also the third largest first quarter decline since 1984.

From the first quarter of 1984 through the first quarter of 2019, seven of the quarters have registered an IC market decline of ≥10%, says IC Insights.

Each year in which a double-digit quarterly IC market decline occurred, the full-year IC market dropped by at least 9%, says the firm.

Three of the seven largest quarterly IC market downturns since 1984 took place during the first three quarters of 2001, which put the market in the third quarter of 2001 at 44% below that of the fourth quarter 2000. As a result, 2001’s full-year IC market decline of 33% still stands as the worst annual performance in the history of the IC industry.

The first quarter is usually the weakest quarter of the year for the IC market, averaging a sequential decline of 2.1% over the past 36 years, but the severity of the most recent sequential drop has started this year off at a very low level, says IC Insights. As a result, given the typical seasonality of the IC market, an abnormally strong second half of the year will be required to avoid a full-year 2019 double-digit IC market decline.

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