Market research firm IHS iSuppli predicts that if the global economy starts to recover next year, global semiconductor sales are expected to increase by an average of 6.6%-7.9% over the 2013-2015 period. It is expected that global semiconductor sales in 2012 will increase by 3.3% year-on-year, mainly due to the uncertainties of the global economy and the fact that the speed of shipment of chip stocks is not enough to stimulate production.

Global semiconductor sales this year are expected to increase to 312.8 billion U.S. dollars. iSuppli said that compared with the increase of 1.3% last year, this year's growth rate has greatly increased.

However, if the global economy can begin to recover next year, the long-term situation may change dramatically: During 2013-2015, the average annual increase may increase to 6.6%-7.9%.

Despite the apparent increase in consumer spending on electronic equipment during the holiday season, due to the slowdown in the industry growth at the end of last year, it is expected that the weak demand for chips will continue into the second quarter of this year.

Memory—especially dynamic random access memory may become a hard-hit area. It is estimated that this year's revenue will fall by 16%, and the memory revenue in 2011 will drop by nearly 27%.