Intel sees a jump in sales in Q1, companies are ordering analogue ICs for new projects and the world’s largest chip foundry has pressed the accelerator pedal for next generation CMOS process technology.
The semiconductor industry seems to be back on the rails after the demand and investment short-falls of last year.
Last month, analyst Future Horizons said that current estimates of 22% growth for the semiconductor market in 2010 were starting to look conservative.
Revenue growth of around 30% growth no longer seems like pie-in-the-sky.
There are still concerns that the manufacturers are not acting fast enough right now to add production capacity to support soaring demand for ICs in the second half of the year.
"Component suppliers have yet to jump in with both feet when it comes to ramping up capacity," says Eric Pratt, a pricing analysis at iSuppli,
This seems at odds with news of very strong Q1 sales figures for ASML, the No.1 maker of IC lithography equipment.
The view from Bob Conrad, v-p and general manager of the mobile, computing, consumer and comms business group at Fairchild Semiconductor, is more measured.
Conrad sees a market which has climbed back from the lows of last year and he does not believe that the current sales growth is being fuelled by inventory rebuilding.
“I believe the industry is tighter on inventory in general,” says Conrad.
He says demand in the mobile phone and PC markets was back to normal seasonal levels. 
“Demand is increasing but customers aren’t panicking so leadtimes are better behaved as a result,” said Conrad.
Dean Hassell, general manager of Arrow UK, does see some replenishment of inventory still going on in the market.
"But 50% of the orders are for both finished goods stocked by the end customers to prepare for increasing demands as well as actual increasing demand," says Hassell.
But he is not getting carried away by the prospect of growth in 2010 and he wouldn’t be surprised if there is “a slight flattening of demand in the coming months”.
Perhaps inevitably, reports of shortages, rising prices and leadtimes are already doing the rounds.   
For example, DRAM shortages could see prices rise by 60% this year, says analyst Semico Research.
Yet few people are arguing that the semiconductor industry is heading for a good year.
A view reinforced this week with Intel’s 44% increase in Q1 sales. This was a record Q1 even for Intel and it is looking for something similar in Q2.
The message from Intel is that corporate PC buyers are spending again and this is fuelling new demand for its processor in the supply chain.
TSMC’s decision to push to 20nm process technology by 2012 is potentially even more positive news for the industry.
It shows chip manufacturers, after treading water for 12 months, are again looking ahead and planning investment in new production capacity.
TSMC’s decision to go straight to 20nm and miss out the next node at 22nm is based on the fact that it will provide a better performance to cost ratio than a 22nm process technology.
Last year’s talk that the chip industry was about to enter a dark age of low demand and under-investment thankfully now seems to be a distant memory.