2020/03/31 COVID-19 will put the 2020 Semiconductor Sector Recovery at Risk, but is no Game-Changer

The semiconductor sector spent most of 2019 coming to terms with the uncertainty of a US-China trade war. It will now spend the rest of 2020 reasoning what the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) means for global economic growth and subsequent demand for the semiconductors that power products such as smartphones and laptops. Even at this early stage in the year, the industry’s prediction of modest semiconductor sales growth for 2020 looks unlikely to come true, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

David Bicknell, Principal Analyst in the Thematic Research Team at GlobalData  says, 

“ US majors, such as Intel, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments derive 30% or more of their revenues from China and the market is seen as a major source of potential growth. The COVID-19 outbreak means US companies’ ambitions will suffer, with little prospect that China’s growth engine will rev up again in 2020. That said, COVID-19 is no sector game-changer. China will continue to make its economy more self-sufficient, driven by domestic consumers buying products designed and made in China. The US industry must face up to the fact that its biggest market will eventually become its biggest competitor.”

GlobalData's latest report, COVID-19 Impact on Semiconductors - Thematic Research, analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the global semiconductors sector. It identifies those companies that may benefit from the impact of COVID-19 over a 12-month period, as well as those companies that will lose out. It includes a thematic screen, that ranks the 58 leading companies in this sector on the basis of overall leadership in the 10 themes that matter most to their industry, including COVID-19. This generates a leading indicator of future performance.