Cloud hangs over U.S. chipmakers on worries data center growth could slow

Cloud and data centers, the chip industry’s strongest sector, may be its next problem: Signs are showing growth could slow in what has been a pillar during the COVID era as consumers signed up for cloud-based entertainment and companies retooled their offices.

Analysts say the cloud market has rarely had to weather a prolonged economic downturn since it rose to prominence in the last decade as more businesses adopted the technology, making it harder to predict if it’s recession proof or it will be hit in an economic downtown.