Global semiconductor industry revenue will grow 7.7% annually through 2010 when the market will reach $321 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said in its annual forecast.

The new forecast projects global sales of $257.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 3.8% over 2006 sales of $247.7 billion. For 2008, revenue will increase 7.7% to $276.9 billion.

Consumer electronics equipment continues to drive chip demand. "This year the worldwide microchip industry will produce 900 million transistors for every man, woman, and child on earth," says SIA President George Scalise. "The increasing proliferation of semiconductors into an ever-broader range of consumer products coupled with the emergence of large new consumer markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America will be the principal drivers of industry growth for the next several years," says Scalise.

The SIA notes that sales of personal computers, the largest single market for chips, were expected to grow by 11–12% in 2007. Handset unit shipments are forecasted to grow by 12%; MP3, 20% and digital TV units, 50%.

Scalise says advances in semiconductor technology have resulted in higher performing consumer products at a much lower price. "Today a typical PC sells for less than 30% of the price of a comparable unit in 1995, but today's model is 100 times more powerful," says Scalise.

Through 2010, flash memory will have the highest growth rate of the semiconductor industry with 20% annual growth from $23.1 billion in 2007 to $39.7 billion in 2010 and surpass DRAM in terms of revenue. DRAM will post meager 1.6% annual growth rising from $32.4 billion in 2007 to $33.9 billion in 2010.

Analog ICs will grow $8.3% per year from $36.6 billion in 2007 to $46.5 billion in 2010 and microprocessor revenue will rise 8.1% per year from $34.7 billion to $43.9 billion during the same time period. Optoelectronics will grow 7.1%; logic, 7.4%; and discretes, 5.6% from 2007 to 2010.