Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, has said it expects a slowdown in the US semiconductor market this year before a recovery towards the year-end.
On a more optimistic note, the South Korean company forecast demand for mobile phones in the United States would grow 7-8 per cent to 114 million units in 2005, versus 106 million last year.
"A downturn is expected in the U.S. chip market growth, before posting a recovery in the latter part of the year," Asia's most valuable technology firm said in a statement highlighting its North America business strategy.
The US economy is expected to grow about 3.5 per cent in 2005, down from 4.4 per cent last year, it said.
Samsung, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker after Nokia, said the growth in cellphones in the US market would be driven largely by demand from consumers seeking to replace older models.
Samsung said its sales in North America hit $17 billion last year, up from $11 billion in 2003. Forty per cent of its revenue came from semiconductors, 30 per cent from telecommunications and 30 from other electronics goods, it said.
World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), a global chip industry group, slashed its 2005 growth forecast for the semiconductor market to 1.2 per cent in November, down sharply from a forecast 28.5 per cent in 2004.