April semi sales flat with March, SIA reports

In line with historical industry patterns, year-to-date global semiconductor sales totaled $82.9 billion, which is 4.3% higher than the first four months of 2007 when sales were $79.5 billion.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 6/2/2008

Essentially flat with worldwide sales of semiconductors in March, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today that global sales for April totaled $21.2 billion, 5.9% higher than $20.1 billion in April 2007.

In line with historical industry patterns, year-to-date global semiconductor sales totaled $82.9 billion, which is 4.3% higher than the first four months of 2007 when sales were $79.5 billion.

At the same time, Gartner today upped its 2008 semiconductor revenue estimate, but is still reporting concerns with the level of inventory in the supply chain.

SIA president George Scalise noted that despite steep increases in energy costs that have diminished the disposable income of consumers, worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by a healthy 5.9% compared to April 2007, although price attrition in memory products continues to dampen overall revenue growth for the industry.

“Excluding sales of memory devices, April semiconductor sales grew by more than 12% year-on-year. Unit sales of both DRAMs and NAND flash products were up significantly year-on-year, but price attrition resulted in a 14% decline in total sales of memory products,” Scalise commented in a statement.

Further, he noted that unit sales of personal computers and handsets (the two largest demand drivers for semiconductors continue to be in line with forecasts and that unit sales of PCs are projected to grow by approximately 10% this year, while handset unit sales are forecasted to grow in the 12% range. “Growth in these two important end-markets is increasingly driven by sales outside the United States,” Scalise added.

Source: SIA


SIA also pointed out that the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has reported that consumer spending on electronic products as a percentage of all purchases of durable goods is continuing to rise from less than 10% in 1980s to around 15% today, and estimates that the economic stimulus package in the US will generate $5 billion in additional consumer electronic purchases although these effects have not yet been seen in the data. 

Commenting on the sales report, Lehman Brothers semiconductor research analyst Tim Luke asserted that SIA’s April data was seasonally weak after a strong March, with total semi month-over-month revenue down -24.3%, vs. the 10-year average of down -22.9%, underpinned by both unit and ASP declines month-over-month.

“Weakness this month was led by logic and microprocessors (offsetting better-than-expected trends in these two segments last month, thus making the comparison somewhat tougher), while DRAM, analog, MCU and discrete growth was slightly better than their 10-year month-over-month averages,” Luke wrote in a report today.

“Near term, we see June data as key for a back-end-loaded quarter, but trends for most vendors appear on track. After a recent move up, we retain a selective approach heading into 2Q and the summer months,” he added.


Source: SIA