Semi sales growth continues, SIA reports another high

The SIA notes that chip sales have been buoyed by strength in PCs, cell phones, corporate IT, industrial applications, and autos. Sales are on pace to reach the SIA forecast of 28.4% growth in 2010.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing editor, news -- EDN, July 6, 2010

The SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) has reported another month of growth for worldwide sales of semiconductors.

The good news is for the month of May, for which sales were $24.7 billion, a sequential increase of 4.5% from April when sales were $23.6 billion and a year-on-year increase of 47.6% from May 2009 when sales were $16.7 billion (see data below).

"Global sales of semiconductors in May reached a new high and remain on pace to reach the SIA forecast of 28.4% growth to $290.5 billion in 2010," said SIA President George Scalise in a statement.  "Chip sales have been buoyed by strength in sales of personal computers, cell phones, corporate information technology, industrial applications, and autos. Unit sales of personal computers are now expected to grow by 20% this year and cell phone unit sales are predicted to be up 10 to 12% over 2009 levels.

"Emerging markets, including China and India, are fueling sales of computation and communications products," Scalise continued. "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."

Semiconductor sales have shown month-over-month and year-over-year growth every month this year. While growth is expected to continue, it is slowing.  As the SIA expected, May's year-on-year growth rate declined slightly from the 50.4% reported in April, remaining in high recovery mode but also marking the second lowest year-on-year growth so far in 2010 just above January's 47.2% growth, according to SIA data. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average, the industry group noted.

SIA noted that the industry year-on-year and sequential growth rates are likely to continue to slow during the second half of 2010. Scalise believes that going forward, the year-on-year growth comparisons will reflect the industry recovery that gained momentum in the second half of last year.

"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.

Scalise will retire his seat as president of the SIA this month. Brian Toohey, an advisor to the FIRST organization and a member of the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Advisory Committee, has been named as Scalise's successor.

SIA May 2010 data in billions
Month-to-month Sales
Market	April	May	% Change
Americas	3.94	4.27	8.2%
Europe	3.10	3.15	1.7%
Japan	3.67	3.72	1.3%
Asia Pacific	12.87	13.51	5.0%
Total	23.58	24.65	4.5%
Year-to-year sales
Market	May 2009	May 2010	% Change
Americas	2.79	4.27	52.9%
Europe	2.19	3.15	43.8%
Japan	2.76	3.72	34.7%
Asia Pacific	8.95	13.51	50.9%
Total	16.70	24.65	47.6%
Three-month-moving average sales
Market	Dec / Jan / Feb	Mar / Apr / May	% Change
Americas	3.62	4.27	17.9%
Europe	2.88	3.15	9.5%
Japan	3.44	3.72	8.4%
Asia Pacific	12.11	13.51	11.6%
Total	22.04	24.65	11.8%