Net Takes Over From PCs As Chip-Industry Driver.

At the Semiconductor Industry Association_s release of its semiannual chip industry forecast, Wilfred Corrigan, chairman of LSI Logic, pointed to the exploding growth of the Internet market as supplanting the PC as the main driver for semiconductor sales. The SIA_s new forecast calls for a 12.1 percent growth in worldwide chip revenue to $162.5 billion."Electronic commerce alone will be a huge driver, growing from $123 billion in 2000 to $400 billion in 2002," he said. "It will take an immense growth in Internet infrastructure to support e-commerce, which will lead the Internet to become the primary driver of the semiconductor market," the LSI chieftain said. Corrigan told the SIA_s midyear gathering the Internet_s growth will fuel chip sales in all sectors of the electronic industry, especially communications and consumer electronics, as well as continue to strengthen the PC market.