Trendforce: Manufacturers to Increase Revenue 30% in 1Q2020

TrendForce said today it expects manufacturers' revenues to grow 30% year-on-year for the first quarter of 2020. However, that increase could be short-lived, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to reduce demand for the rest of the year.

TrendForce augurs a great first quarter for manufacturers, but Coronavirus could affect the rest of the year

The research company said that the growth in the first quarter of 2020 is the result of the "comparatively lower" base period of the first quarter of 2019, which means that the numbers look good this year because they were very bad last year.

They also said that this first-quarter increase "was intended to demonstrate general optimism for the semiconductor industry to recover in 2020." Unfortunately, that optimism, like almost all other potentially optimistic developments in the past three months, could be short-lived.

TrendForce said the novel coronavirus, which according to Johns Hopkins University has infected at least 222, 000 people worldwide, could reduce demand for these chips.

TrendForce explained:

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TrendForce was not alone in these fears. DigiTimes reported today that global PC sales could drop as much as 30% yoy in the first half of 2020 due to COVID-19. We will keep you informed.

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