Semiconductor sales defy market gloom with strong first half

Semiconductor sales grew by 5.4% to $127.5bn in the first half of the year, according to the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Chip sales in June of $21.6bn were up by 8% on the same month last year, and were 0.5% ahead of last month.

“Continuing strength in international markets – coupled with healthy demand in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” /?>US – helped drive higher worldwide sales of semiconductors in June,” said SIA president George Scalise.

The main market drivers remain PCs, which account for 40% of semiconductor sales, and mobile phones, which drive about 20% of demand. Both sectors showed double-digit unit growth.

“Emerging markets are a major factor in driving worldwide semiconductor sales,” Scalise continued. “PC unit sales in emerging markets are expected to grow by 19% – more than double the growth rate in developed markets this year.”

“In mobile phones developing countries are expected to account for 66% of total worldwide unit sales of over 1.3 billion, up from 61% last year. The emergence of large middle-class populations in China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America has more than offset the effects of slower growth in the US economy,” said Scalise.

“Inventory for the industry is in balance with minor excess in a few product sectors,” Scalise noted.

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