Human Vs. Machines: Who Wins In Semiconductor Market Forecasting?

Abstract

"If you ask ten experts, you will get ten different opinions." This common proverb illustrates the common association of expert forecasts with personal bias and lack of consistency. On the other hand, digitization promises consistency and explainability through data-driven forecasts employing machine learning (ML) and statistical models. In the following, we compare such forecasts to expert forecasts from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), a leading semiconductor market data provider.