But IHS goes further than others saying in a statement that "Weakness in end-market demand will cause revenue decay to extend into 2016 and beyond."

IHS has not said how much it expects the global chip market to decline by in 2016 or 2017 but said global chip revenue in 2015 was $347.3 billion, down 2 percent from $354.3 billion in 2014. The market drop follows growth of 8.3 percent in 2014 and 6.4 percent in 2013.

"Weak results last year signal the beginning of what is expected to be a three-year period of declining to stagnant growth for semiconductor revenues," said Dale Ford, chief analyst at IHS Technology. "Anemic end-market demand in the major segments of wireless communications, data processing and consumer electronics will hobble semiconductor growth during this time."

The compound annual growth rate for semiconductor revenue over the period 2015 to 2020 will be 2.1 percent, IHS forecasts.

 ----Form EE Times