SIA: Semi sales enjoy strong boost in September
By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- 10/29/2007
Continuing a boost that had begun in August, sales of semiconductors rose sharply in September, according to a report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) released today, putting the industry's performance slightly above the group's forecast from earlier this year.
According to the SIA, global microchip sales in September were $22.6 billion, an increase of 5.9 percent from September 2006 when sales were $21.3 billion, and up 5 percent from August's sales of $21.5 billion.
The month's strong performance buoyed the semiconductor industry's larger quarterly and year-to-date performances as well: The group reported that Q3 sales of $67.8 billion increased 5.9 percent from Q3 2006 when sales were $64 billion, and up 13.2 percent from Q2 when sales were $59.9 billion. For the first nine months of 2007 sales were $188.8 billion, 3.5 percent up from the $182.5 billion sales during the first nine months of 2006.
The rise in sales can be attributed largely to a ramp-up to the holiday buying season. "The increase in worldwide sales of 13.2 percent from the prior quarter reflects historic patterns as the holiday season build began," SIA president George Scalise said in a statement. "Demand from the consumer products sector was very robust as sales of semiconductors for traditional consumer applications rose by 35 percent quarter-to-quarter."
Scalise's statements echo results posted last week by market research firm IDC that worldwide PC microprocessor shipments grew 14.3 percent sequentially to push MPU sales to record levels in Q3.
Meanwhile, backing the quarterly reports from IDC and Strategy Analytics, the SIA reported that mobile phone unit sales in Q3 grew by approximately 11 percent from the prior quarter, which led to a boost in memory sales.
"Strong sales of cell phones and personal electronics products were a major contributor to sharp increases in revenue for NAND flash," said Scalise. "Sales of NAND flash were up by 46.2 percent from the prior quarter and by 58.5 percent in September 2007 compared to September 2006. ASPs for NAND flash increased by nearly 32 percent from the second quarter."
"Worldwide sales of semiconductors for the first nine months of 2007 are running slightly ahead of the SIA June forecast. At this point, concern over rising energy costs has not been an issue. This will bear watching, however, as we move into the retail selling season," Scalise concluded.
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