The worldwide market for semiconductors in 2001 is expected to decline 31 percent due to excessive inventories and price pressure on a wide range of products, ... However, recent data indicates inventory is now largely in balance and prices are rebounding in some product categories.
The September results are in line with the 1997-2000 worldwide forecast we released last week which calls for industry growth of 5.5 percent in 1997 and 16.8 percent in 1998.