Global semicon sales up 0.7% in August to US$25.03b

KUALA LUMPUR: Global semiconductor sales rose 0.7% month-on-month in August to US$25.03 billion from US$24.9 billion in July, according to the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

On a year-to-date basis sales grew 2.2%, it said.

However, on a year-on-year basis, the worldwide sales fell 2.2%. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

SIA president Brian Toohey said sales in August were in large part driven by strong demand in tablets and PC’s.

“Growth in these areas is encouraging, however lower consumer and industrial demand across a wide range of products and markets is keeping overall sales lower than expected at this point,” he said in a statement on Oct 3.

Toohey said a strong month-to-month increase in sales from Japan due to recovery efforts and output from fabrication facilities after the natural disaster earlier this year helped to increase semiconductor sales throughout August.

Additionally, due to the compounding effect of increased semiconductor content in cars, automotive application specific semiconductors have experienced double digit growth year-to-date, he said.

“In the midst of a slow and soft global economic picture, growth in the semiconductor industry is promising,” he said