Global chip sales rise in May: SIA

The semiconductor industry is showing signs of recovery as global chip sales rose 47.6 per cent in May to $24.7 billion from a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

The global chip industry that saw a steep decline during the global recession last year has slowly picked up momentum fuelled by sales of computation and communications products from emerging markets like China and India.

The SIA said yesterday that worldwide sales of semiconductors in May were $24.7 billion, a sequential increase of 4.5 per cent from April when sales were $23.6 billion and a year-on-year increase of 47.6 per cent from May 2009 when sales were $16.7 billion.

''Global sales of semiconductors in May reached a new high and remain on pace to reach the SIA forecast of 28.4 per cent growth to $290.5 billion in 2010,'' said SIA president George Scalise, in a statement.

Personal computers, cell phones, corporate information technology, industrial applications, and autos were the main drivers for chip sales, said Scalise.

SIA expects sales of personal computers to grow by 20 per cent this year and cell phone unit sales to go up by 10 to 12 per cent over 2009 levels.

''Emerging markets, including China and India, are fuelling sales of computation and communications products. The automotive market is also slowly recovering after several years of weak sales. Demand from the corporate information technology and industrial sectors that had pushed out replacement cycles during the global economic recession is beginning to come back,'' added Scalise.

SIA once again noted that the industry year-on-year and sequential growth rates are likely to continue to slow during the second half of 2010.

Recent chip sales have shown robust demand, but the year-on-year growth rates also underscore the very depressed market conditions of the first half of 2009.

''Growing concerns about issues such as government debt, declining consumer confidence, and pressures on government spending do not appear to have affected worldwide semiconductor sales to date, but given the semiconductor industry's growing sensitivity to macroeconomic conditions, these issues bear watching in the second half of 2010,'' Scalise concluded.

May 2010
Billions
Month-to-Month Sales
Market	Last Month	Current Month	Per cent Change
Americas	3.94	4.27	8.2 Per cent
Europe	3.10	3.15	1.7 Per cent
Japan	3.67	3.72	1.3 Per cent
Asia Pacific	12.87	13.51	5.0 Per cent
Total	23.58	24.65	4.5 Per cent
Year-to-Year Sales
Market	Last Year	Current Month	Per cent Change
Americas	2.79	4.27	52.9 Per cent
Europe	2.19	3.15	43.8 Per cent
Japan	2.76	3.72	34.7 Per cent
Asia Pacific	8.95	13.51	50.9 Per cent
Total	16.70	24.65	47.6 Per cent
Three-Month-Moving Average Sales
Market	Dec / Jan / Feb	Mar / Apr / May	Per cent Change
Americas	3.62	4.27	17.9 Per cent
Europe	2.88	3.15	9.5 Per cent
Japan	3.44	3.72	8.4 Per cent
Asia Pacific	12.11	13.51	11.6 Per cent
Total	22.04	24.65	11.8 Per cent