It may not yet be the time to uncork the bubbly but the smiles and optimism are definitely back in the global semiconductor industry.
Sitting on a pile of inventories for the past six months, fab owners and fabless chipmakers are heaving a sigh of relief with stocks moving faster on signs of a revival in various sectors that drive the industry.
Recent commentary from players across the spectrum -- chipmakers, equipment suppliers, industry bodies and analysts -- suggest the current semiconductor cycles could be bottoming out.
Though not out of the woods yet, statements by semiconductor companies and equipment suppliers post Q1 results indicate increased offtake.
For instance, new orders for semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials saw a $3.16 billion decline in backlog, a drop of nearly $1 billion sequentially.
Despite the weak earnings, the management gave an optimistic picture of the current scenario in a conference call.
Likewise, the world's biggest chipmaker Intel came out with positive comments on the cycle and kick off to Q2 sales. Though acknowledging IT demand was sluggish, AMD CEO Dirk Meyer observed the severe inventory corrections of the prior quarter have stabilised and should play out completely in the coming quarter.
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